Ukraine war: UK defends sending uranium ammo to Kyiv after Putin's warning, says report

The United Kingdom (UK) has defended sending depleted uranium shells to war-torn Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning, according to a report by BBC early Wednesday (March 22). On Tuesday, Putin had said that Moscow would be forced to react if the UK gave Kyiv military supplies, including armour-piercing ammunition which contains depleted uranium.

"The United Kingdom... announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. If this happens, Russia will be forced to react," Putin told reporters after meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Earlier, the British government had confirmed that it would provide Ukraine with the armour-piercing rounds alongside Challenger two tanks,but insisted they have a low risk of radiation. A statement from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that depleted uranium is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons, the BBC reported early Wednesday.

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"Russia knows this but is deliberately trying to disinform. Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact to personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be low," the statement added.

Colonel Hamish de Breton-Gordon,a former British Army tank commander,said that Russian President Putin's comments were classic disinformation. Colonel Gordon said that depleted uranium rounds used by Challenger 2 tanks contained only trace elements of depleted uranium, the report added.

Depleted uranium is a by-product of the nuclear enriching process used to make nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. It is around 60 per cent as radioactive as natural uranium. Its heaviness lends itself to use in armour-piercing rounds as it helps them easily penetrate steel.

However, the United Nations Environment Programme has described it as a "chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal."

CND, an anti-nuclear organisation, condemned the decision to send armour-piercing ammunition to Ukraine, calling it an "additional environmental and health disaster for those living through the conflict".

CND general secretary Kate Hudson said that the organisation repeatedly called for the British government "to place an immediate moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to fund long-term studies into their health and environmental impacts," the news agency AFP reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

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