Putin: We'll Use Depleted Uranium Munitions if Employed by Ukraine
Britain has already sent thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine, including 'depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds'
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will respond in kind if the Ukrainian military begins using anti-tank ammunition laced with depleted uranium.
“We have a lot of such ammunition, with depleted uranium, and if they use them, we also reserve the right to use the same ammunition,” Putin said, according to Alarabiya News, citing Tass.
The U.S. is expected to follow the United Kingdom’s lead and provide the Ukrainian military with tank rounds with depleted-uranium rounds that can pierce the coat of Russian tanks but raise health concerns for people in areas these munitions are used.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a senior Biden administration official, reported that there seems to be consensus on the decision in Washington.
“The projectile hits like a freight train,” Scott Boston, a defense analyst at the Rand Corporation and former Army artillery officer, told the paper. “It is very long and very dense. So it puts a great deal of kinetic energy on a specific point on an enemy armor array.”