The Pentagon on Wednesday, the 7th of September, announced an aid package for Ukraine that includes depleted uranium shells for Abrams tanks. The Kremlin reacted sharply on Thursday, the 8th of September, saying the US would have to answer for the “very sad consequences” of its recent decision, writes Reuters. Reuters also noted that the UK had sent similar shells to Ukraine before.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has expressed concern about the delivery of such shells. He referred to NATO’s use of such ammunition in the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, linking it to an increase in cancer and other diseases in the region, saying that this affects not only those who come into direct contact with the munition, but also future generations, and now it will also happen in Ukraine.
There is an ongoing debate about the use of depleted uranium munition.
Advocacy groups such as the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons argue that exposure to depleted uranium dust can cause cancer and birth defects.
However, a UNEP report on Serbia and Montenegro found “no significant, widespread contamination”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that studies in various regions, including the former Yugoslavia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon, show that residues of depleted uranium dispersed in the environment
do not pose a radiological hazard.
Some Serbian politicians dispute this and report an increase in malignancies and deaths.
In contrast, the British Royal Society claimed in a 2002 report that the risk to organs from depleted uranium munition is very low for both soldiers and those living in conflict zones. Britain has stated in its guidelines that huge amounts of depleted uranium dust would have to be inhaled to cause injury.
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