RUSSIA has fired a new warning at Britain over plans to potentially arm Ukraine with tank shells containing depleted uranium.
Moscow is fuming over the plan – with one of Vladimir Putin’s officials decrying it as “genocide”.
“This is a step towards a further escalation, and a serious one at that,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
He added that the use of such ammunition would “sharply reduce” Ukraine’s ability to “produce high-quality, uncontaminated food”.
It came after Putin vowed the Uk would be “forced to react” to any such moves by the UK.
Britain has accused the Russians of “deliberately trying to disinform” over a “standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities”.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu also fired a warning at the UK.
“Only one thing can be said here: there are not so many steps, another step has been passed, and there are fewer and fewer of them,” said Shoigu.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also hit back – accusing the UK of “genocide”.
“The use of ammunition with depleted uranium is a manifestation of genocide of the population against which it is used and the people who use them,” she said.
Zakharova went on: “This is another British provocation, which aims to bring the situation around Ukraine to a new round of aggression, conflict and confrontation, to give a qualitatively different dimension.”
Moscow has been reacting to a written response by a UK defence minister, Annabel Goldie, who was asked whether “any of the ammunition currently being supplied to Ukraine contains depleted uranium”.
She responded on Monday by saying that “we will be providing ammunition including armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium”.
Depleted uranium is a by-product of the nuclear enriching process used to make nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. It is around 60 percent as radioactive as natural uranium.
Its heaviness lends itself for use in armour piercing rounds as it helps them easily penetrate steel.
The United Nations Environment Program has described it as a “chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal”.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly rubbished the criticism from Russia.
Cleverly told reporters at an event in London that Russia was the only country talking about nuclear issues.
“There is no nuclear escalation,” he said. “The only country in the world that is talking about nuclear issues is Russia. There is no threat to Russia, this is purely about helping Ukraine defend itself”
“It’s worth making sure everyone understands that just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions.”
Britain has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades and does not consider those rounds as having a nuclear capability.
Russia is known to also use ammunition containing depleted ammunition.
Kyiv continues to call for Western support to help them defeat Putin, who has so far lost more than 150,000 soldiers.
Vlad foolishly believed his forces would be welcomed into Ukraine as liberators when he invaded last February.
But instead the initial attack ended in a disaster which saw his forces devastated and thrown back to Russia.
Putin’s future is now believed to be tied to the success or failure of his war in Ukraine – with an arrest warrant being issued for him over war crimes.
Henry Holloway
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