MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Great Britain’s plans to supply depleted uranium (DU) weapons to Ukraine will lead to mass health problems among the civilian population, as DU shells are chemical weapons, an environmental commission under Russia’s Civic Chamber said in a statement on Monday.

"The Commission on Ecology and Environmental Protection of the Russian Civic Chamber categorically condemns the decision by the British government to supply depleted uranium shells to Ukraine. Their use causes major uranium oxide contamination to the environment," the commission said, referring to research showing that such contamination may lead to mass incidences of disease in both military personnel and civilians.

Among other things, the commission cited the WHO World Health Report 2001, mentioning the radiological and chemical toxicity of depleted uranium. In-depth research into workplace exposure to DU showed that the critical organs most prone to toxicity from DU munitions are the kidneys and the lungs, while young children could receive greater DU exposure from contaminated soil when playing within a conflict zone, according to the document.

In December 2008, 141 countries voted for a UN General Assembly resolution urging additional research into the effects of munitions containing DU by 2010, but this never took place for various reasons, primarily of a political nature, the commission said.

The environmentalists likened this to the use of Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide and defoliant, by the US Army in Vietnam. "The use of that chemical affected over 3 million people, with more than 1 million people under 18 left incapacitated, and suffering from hereditary diseases," the commission emphasized.

A British Defense Ministry official, Baroness Annabel Goldie, said in a written response to a question by a member of the House of Lords last week that the United Kingdom would supply Ukraine with shells containing DU, which she said are more effective in destroying armored vehicles.