Russia threatened to escalate attacks in Ukraine after the British government announced it would provide a type of munition to Ukraine that Moscow falsely claims has nuclear components.
The British Defence Ministry confirmed it would provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.
Such rounds were developed by the U.S. during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks that Ukraine now faces in its push to break through a stalemate in the east.
Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. The rounds retain some radioactive properties, but they can’t generate a nuclear reaction like a nuclear weapon would, RAND nuclear expert and policy researcher Edward Geist said.
That didn’t stop the Russians from offering a full-throated warning that the rounds were opening the door to further escalation. In the past, they have suggested the war could escalate to nuclear weapons use.
Both the the British ministry and the White House dismissed the Russian accusations. But the ammunition does carry risks even if it’s not a nuclear weapon.
WHAT HAS RUSSIA SAID?
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned that Moscow would “respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a ‘nuclear component.’”
The British “have lost their bearings,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, warning that the munitions are “a step toward accelerating escalation.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the announcement was “another step, and there aren’t so many of them left.”
The White House denounced Russia’s claims as disinformation.
“Make no mistake, this is yet another straw man through which the Russians are driving a stake,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
NOT A BOMB, BUT STILL A RISK
While depleted uranium munitions are not considered nuclear weapons, their emission of low levels of radiation has led the U.N. nuclear watchdog to urge caution when handling and warn of the possible dangers of exposure.
The handling of such ammunition “should be kept to a minimum and protective apparel (gloves) should be worn,” the International Atomic Energy Agency cautions, adding that “a public information campaign may, therefore, be required to ensure that people avoid handling the projectiles.
“This should form part of any risk assessment and such precautions should depend on the scope and number of ammunitions used in an area.”
The IAEA notes that depleted uranium is mainly a toxic chemical, as opposed to a radiation hazard. Particles in aerosols can be inhaled or ingested, and while most would be excreted again, some can enter the blood stream and cause kidney damage.
“High concentrations in the kidney can cause damage and, in extreme cases, renal failure,” the IAEA says.
The low-level radioactivity of a depleted uranium round “is a bug, not a feature” of the munition, Geist said, and if the U.S. military could find another material with the same density but without the radioactivity it would likely use that instead.
Depleted uranium munitions were used in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq’s T-72 tanks and again in the invasion of the country in 2003, as well as in Serbia and in Kosovo. U.S. military veterans of those conflicts have questioned whether their use led to ailments they now face.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, said supplies of rounds containing depleted uranium could lead to “a tragedy on a global scale that will primarily affect European countries.”
Volodin said the use of such U.S. ammunition in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq led to “radioactive contamination and a sharp rise in oncological diseases.”
( Source AP)
