MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. Depleted-uranium shells have 30% greater armor-piercing effect than conventional rounds but they won’t necessarily destroy Russian tanks, Sergey Mayev, former chief of the Defense Ministry’s Automotive and Armored Vehicles Department, told TASS.

"Shells with a depleted-uranium core are not a means that would definitely guarantee the destruction of Russian tanks. When they are used, armor penetration goes up by 30% compared with conventional shells, but this does not guarantee the destruction of our tanks. This is just a high-powered munition," he said.

Mayev said armor becomes more fragile upon contact with a shell’s uranium core. That’s what makes such shells more effective in piercing armor. the armor penetration of the projectile. According to the general, the dispersal of uranium, when such munitions explode, creates a high risk of radioactive contamination of the environment with dire consequences for civilian population.

The general noted that Russia has such munitions "in sufficient quantity."

"I believe that the decision to use them can be made only in the most extreme case, that is, in the event of a real threat of military defeat of Russia, as is the case with tactical nuclear weapons," he said.