London reveals: “We will supply Kiev with depleted uranium shells”. The wrath of Moscow: “Nuclear confrontation one step away”
Moscow is once again agitating the nuclear threat, after London announced its intention to send depleted uranium ammunition to Kiev. The British government’s decision was announced last Monday by British Deputy Defense Minister Annabel Goldie during a hearing in the House of Lords, but it only came to prominence when it was picked up by the Ukrainian media.
Russia’s response was not long in coming. Yesterday Vladimir Putin, speaking alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping, promised that Moscow “will react” if London were to send this type of supplies. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu instead commented that the “nuclear collision” between Russia and the West is now “one step away”. If the United Kingdom supplies such munitions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has threatened, “there is no doubt it will end badly” for London.
“I wouldn’t be surprised by anything, because they have completely lost their sense of direction regarding their actions and how they undermine strategic stability around the world,” Lavrov said. “They are trying to fight this conflict not only in theory down to the last Ukrainian, but also in practice: the West is starting to use weapons with nuclear elements,” Putin said instead, making it clear that Moscow will not stand idly by.
The possible supplies concern the Charm 1 and Charm 3 shells, used for the cannons of the “Challenger 2” tanks, which the government of Rishi Sunak has donated to Kiev. “Together with a squadron of Challenger 2 heavy combat tanks, we will also send the relevant ammunition: including armor-piercing shells that contain depleted uranium,” Deputy Minister Goldie said on Monday. Munitions have long been at the center of controversy over the legality of their use in past war scenarios, from the former Yugoslavia to Iraq.
