Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday escalated the nuclear threat again after pledging to respond “accordingly” to UK plans to send munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) to Ukraine.
“I would like to note here that if this happens, Russia will be forced to respond accordingly, considering that the collective West is beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component,” he said after meeting Chinese President Xi, according to Russian News agencies Jinping.
Putin’s comments came after Britain’s MoD said it would supply Ukraine with ammunition for the Challenger 2 main battle tanks that London had pledged to Kiev – including armor-piercing ammunition containing depleted uranium.
The Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks are on display for the Royal Tank Regiment Regimental Parade on September 24, 2022 in Bulford, England. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
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The Kremlin chief did not respond to the thinly veiled threat, nor did he clarify whether he was suggesting Russia would lean on its nuclear arsenal in response – something Moscow has repeatedly threatened throughout the war.
Depleted uranium ammunition is still considered radioactive, although according to the European Union, DU is used in armor-piercing shells and ammunition because it gives them more “penetrating power”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova turned to Telegram to condemn the munitions shipments, comparing them to a “Yugoslavian scenario” in reference to when NATO forces used depleted munitions during the Kosovo conflict in the late 1990s use uranium.
“These shells not only kill, but infect the environment and cause cancer in the people who live on this land,” she claimed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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An EU summary of the effects of depleted uranium in munitions found that “Battlefield residues generally have low concentrations of the metal, in the range of naturally occurring uranium, although there may be a small number of ‘hot spots’. “
However, some reviews of general exposure safety have been mixed, and a US Department of Veterans Affairs report says that depleted uranium is still considered a “health hazard” if it enters the human body through shrapnel or inhalation, although radiation sickness remains unlikely.
“All uranium isotopes are radioactive. DU is significantly less radioactive – typically about 40% less – than unprocessed uranium,” the EU report found. “This means that radiation hazards from uranium only arise from breathing dust, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or getting shrapnel into the body.
“Urine samples from serving soldiers and from civilians living in areas where DU munitions have been used typically indicate very low levels of DU exposure,” the report added.
Rebekah Koffler, a former intelligence officer on Russian doctrine and strategy, explained that these munitions have become commonplace in modern warfare and that Moscow is using rhetoric to “confuse audiences.”
“Depleted uranium is used in munitions by the US and NATO to increase its destructive power and armor penetration. But the Russians have also started using it,” she said.
“Since around 2018-2019, their T-80BV main battle tanks have been firing depleted uranium shells,” Koffler explained. “Putin is trying to confuse the audience to find a pretext for further escalating actions in Ukraine.”
A Ukrainian soldier stands on a tank and smokes on March 8, 2023 near Bakhmut, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also raised the possibility that Russia would respond with a nuclear response when he told reporters on Tuesday that there were fewer steps before a “nuclear collision” between Russia and the West occurred.
“Another step has been taken and there are fewer and fewer left,” he said, according to Portal.