MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The use of depleted uranium shells, which the West promised to ship to Kiev, will cause an irreparable harm to the health of the people and will inflict a colossal damage to agriculture, Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological protection troops commander Igor Kirillov said Friday.
He underscored that the West is well aware of the consequences of use of such ammunition, and this is why NATO states use them only beyond their own territory.
On March 20, London published the statement by UK Minister of State for Defense Annabel Goldie that the UK is ready to ship depleted uranium shells to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that, in this case, Moscow will have to "react accordingly" to shipment of "weapons with a nuclear component."
Here as the key facts about the situation around the depleted uranium ammunition.
About depleted uranium ammunition
Armor-piercing sub-caliber shells with depleted uranium are used to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles and objects, due to high density of uranium. According to Kirillov, tungsten alloys have similar characteristics, but ammunition made of these alloys is much more expensive.
Uranium shells do not have a "significant advantage […] amid modern hostilities" over tungsten ammunition, the general underscored.
He also noted that depleted uranium ammunition is in service "in countries that have uranium stockpiles and processing technology," while these countries plan to use such shells "on a foreign territory, when there is no need to care about ecological consequences."
The consequences
According to Kirillov, use of such ammunition creates a mobile hot cloud comprised of small particles of uranium-238 and its oxides, which "may cause development of serious pathologies when affecting human bodies." In particular, oncology diseases have become more frequently registered in Iraq and Yugoslavia, where this ammunition was used, the general said.
In addition, depleted uranium contaminates the environment, and uranium compounds in the soil "remain dangerous for a long time," Kirillov said. He provided Iraq’s Fallujah as an example: following Western strikes, the city is "still called a second Chernobyl," and radiation situation there used to be "much worse" than after the nuclear bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
According to the "Atominfo-Center" nonprofit organization CEO Alexander Uvarov, UN surveys have established the need for decontamination of areas in Yugoslavia where uranium shells were used.
Threat for Ukraine itself
According to Kirillov, use of depleted uranium ammunition is harmful for Kiev itself: it will cause irreparable harm to the health of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians. In this regard, the general notes the surveys that indicated elevated oncology incidence rate among Italian servicemen who took part in hostilities in the Balkans and in Iraq.
Use of depleted uranium shells will "inflict colossal damage to the Ukrainian agricultural complex" and will bring down the export of agricultural produce from its territory "for many decades, if not centuries," Kirillov said. Meanwhile, he underscored, "the West is fully aware of the negative consequences of use of depleted uranium shells."
Earlier, the White House said that Washington does not consider depleted uranium ammunition a radiation threat and called them an "ordinary type of ammunition," used due to its high armor penetration capability. At the same time, the US itself does not ship such ammunition to Ukraine.
‘Particular shamelessness’ and threat of escalation
Britain's statements about supplying depleted uranium shells to Ukraine look "particularly shameless" ahead of the anniversary of the bombings of Yugoslavia, where such munitions were used, Kirillov said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry made a similar statement: Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the British initiative the "pinnacle of shamelessness" and advised London to carry out experiments with such ammunition on its own territory.
Moscow also underscored that shipment of depleted uranium shells will lead to an escalation of the situation around Ukraine. In particular, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called it a "step towards further qualitative, serious increase of escalation," while Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu stated that "fewer and fewer steps remain" before a nuclear clash.