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Putin Ratings Britain Not Supplying Tank Ammunition to Ukraine. PHOTO/Reuters
MOSCOW – President of Russia Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will be “forced to react” if English give Ukraine ammo armor-piercing tanks containing depleted uranium.
Putin was reacting to news that Britain’s minister of state of defense, Annabel Goldie, had confirmed that ammunition containing depleted uranium was part of a military aid package sent to Ukraine along with Challenger 2 battle tanks.
“Great Britain announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. If this happens, Russia will be forced to react,” Putin told reporters after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Kremlin on Wednesday (22/3/2023).
“If any of this happens, Russia will have to respond, given that the West has collectively started using weapons with a nuclear component,” Putin said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the nuclear enrichment process used to make nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. The weight is suitable for use in armor piercing rounds as it helps them penetrate steel easily.
The United Nations Environment Program describes such munitions as “chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metals”.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense dismissed Putin’s warnings on Tuesday, saying armor-piercing rounds had been standard equipment for decades and had “nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities”.
The ministry accused Russia of deliberate disinformation for describing the munitions as “weapons with a nuclear component”.
