Russian President Valdimir Putin has threatened to use depleted uranium missiles in Ukraine if Kiev receives them from the West. That’s what the head of the Kremlin said on Russian state television. Russia “of course has a lot to say,” Putin said. You have hundreds of thousands of these projectiles. “We are not using them at the moment,” said the Russian president.
Specifically, it is a reaction to the possible delivery of uranium ammunition from Great Britain to Ukraine. Depleted uranium shells have a special impact, for example to destroy tanks.
Tactical nuclear weapons for Belarus
Putin also announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus. Moscow and Minsk agreed to this. Russia is not violating international treaties, he said.
Tactical nuclear weapons have a shorter range than ICBMs. This is Russia’s response to tensions with NATO during Putin’s war with Ukraine.
Belarusian ruler Lukashenko has long called for nuclear weapons to be deployed on his territory, Putin said on television. Iskander missile complexes were also delivered to the neighboring country. The head of the Kremlin announced that the construction of a nuclear weapons bay in Belarus will be completed on July 1. Initially, there was no information from Minsk.
Britain: Moscow troops suffer casualties
According to British intelligence services, Russian attacks in the fight over the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine have virtually stopped.
The Ministry of Defense in London said this was likely due to significant losses to Russian forces. Another reason could be tensions between the Kremlin and the Wagner group, he said. Both deploy units in this sector of the front. Ukraine also suffered heavy losses in the month-long struggle for Bakhmut, it was stressed.
Russia’s focus is now more on the town of Avdiivka further south and on the front near Kreminna and Swatowe north of Bakhmut. The Russians wanted to stabilize the front line there, it was said. This indicates Russian troops are becoming more defensive after attempts at a major offensive failed to produce “conclusive results” since January.
Thousands of Russian Prisoners Supposedly Pardoned
Meanwhile, the head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that more than 5,000 prisoners used by Moscow in the war were pardoned. The 61-year-old claimed that crime in Russia was reduced by a tenth and that former prisoners were better educated than pioneers in Soviet times.
According to estimates by the civil rights organization Russia Behind Bars, Russia has recruited 50,000 prisoners for its war against Ukraine. They primarily fight for the mercenary unit in the Battle of Bakhmut and are considered volunteers.
Prigozhin lured criminals into prisons with the promise that they would be pardoned after completing six months of military service. In order to curb negative reports about these mercenaries, Russian authorities have recently imposed severe penalties for “discrediting volunteers”.
Losses among prisoners are considered particularly high. They are often deployed in small groups to scout Ukrainian positions. Anyone who flees or voluntarily surrenders to the Ukrainians faces draconian penalties if they return to their own unit.