Speaking on Tuesday after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the intention, announced on Monday by the United Kingdom, to supply Ukraine, along with other means and ammunition, also with shells containing Impoverished uranium. Putin said that if the United Kingdom actually sends depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Russia “will act accordingly”.
The intention was announced on Monday, in a hearing in the House of Lords, by Annabel Goldie, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Defense and said that the missiles with depleted uranium are “highly effective in targeting tanks and armored vehicles ». The UK’s intention to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium shells had initially gone very unnoticed in the country, but talks came up again on Tuesday, after the matter was commented by both Putin and the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to whom “another line has been crossed and fewer and fewer remain”.
Depleted uranium is a by-product obtained as a waste of the uranium enrichment process (which is used to produce energy or nuclear weapons): it is effective, but radioactive, albeit less than natural uranium; which is why – although it has also been used in recent decades and although its effects are still partly debated – many are against its use.
