MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The use of depleted-uranium munitions caused an upturn of cancer cases in the NATO troops that participated in the Iraq and Yugoslavia campaigns, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force Igor Kirillov said on Friday.

"In the countries of the former Yugoslavia, there has also been a 25% increase in the number of oncological diseases. The NATO servicemen, who took part in military campaigns in Iraq and Yugoslavia, fell prey of the irresponsible policy of their own leadership," Kirillov said at a briefing on the consequences of providing the Kiev regime with depleted-uranium ammunition.

He said the report of the Chief Military Medical Inspector of Italy from 2016 said that 4,095 soldiers of that country’s armed forces that had been deployed to the Balkans (1994-1999) and Iraq (in 2003), to the areas where the alliance used depleted-uranium ammunition, were subsequently diagnosed with malignant tumors of various types.

"The diseases ended in fatalities in 8% of the cases (330 people). In addition, while remaining in the soil, uranium compounds for a long time retain the danger of producing negative effects on people, animals and crops," Kirillov said.