Vladimir Putin, having learned that the UK plans to supply Ukraine not only with Challenger 2 tanks, but also shells with depleted uranium, said :
“If all this happens, then Russia will be forced to react accordingly, I mean that the collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.”
The president's rhetoric on the same day was supported by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov , Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu , State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin , and even Alexander Lukashenko, who threatened that if ammunition with depleted uranium was handed over to Ukraine, Russia would supply Belarus with ammunition "with real uranium."
Let's start with the fact that depleted uranium ammunition has nothing to do with nuclear weapons, as the British Ministry of Defense recalled after Putin's words.
“This is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia is aware of this, but is deliberately trying to spread disinformation.”
By itself, depleted uranium is still the same uranium, that is, a metal that mainly consists of U-238 isotopes. At the same time, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is less radioactive than natural uranium, which, by the way, is found in all rocks, soil, water and air. Due to its low radioactivity, depleted uranium is not prohibited by international conventions and does not belong to nuclear weapons.
Depleted uranium in the composition of the shells allows you to penetrate the armor of tanks. By the way, it can also be used to create this very armor.
There is a resolution on the use of depleted uranium which includes references to IAEA assessments. Her conclusion is as follows:
“The presence of dispersed depleted uranium particles from conflict-related munitions in the natural environment in the form of localized contamination of soil, vegetables, water and surfaces does not pose a radiological threat to the local population.”
Moreover, the website of the European Union states that medical surveillance of veterans who were injured by shrapnel containing uranium in the Gulf War did not reveal serious health consequences.
How depleted uranium is used in military operations and what consequences its use can have was already discussed a couple of months ago, when it became known about the supply of Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which use charges with the mentioned substance. Even then, pro-Kremlin “experts” began to speak loudly about the threat to the health of Ukrainians, which The Insider denied in detail.
Finally, if Putin, Shoigu and others are so worried about the health of Ukrainians and the state of nature, it is not clear why Russian tanks also use depleted uranium shells. Ammunition 3BM60 "Lead-2" contains depleted uranium. They can be used, for example, by the modernized Russian T-80BVM tank (a descendant of the Soviet T-80). This was announced back in 2018 by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
T-80BVM tanks are used by Russia in the war with Ukraine. So, last year, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published material that the T-80BVM was destroyed by a tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Later, the Ukrainian military observer Oleksandr Kovalenko reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to “trophy” the 3BM60 Lead-2 ammunition.
Thus, following the logic of Putin, Shoigu and others, Russia should also use nuclear weapons against itself.