The UK is showing “recklessness” with its plan to supply depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says
Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace poses in front of a Challenger 2 tank with Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in UK. © AFP / Ben Birchall
The British government’s plans to send depleted uranium shells to Kiev for use in the conflict with Moscow show that Western claims of caring about peace and the future of Ukraine are lies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with Radio Sputnik.
The statement by London is a sign of the “absolute recklessness, irresponsibility and impunity” of the US and Britain when it comes to international affairs, Zakharova insisted in a live interview on Wednesday.
She stressed that munitions containing depleted uranium are not only more powerful and have greater penetrating ability, but they also contaminate the soil with radiation, delivering lasting damage to the environment and affecting many generations of people living in the area.
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“Everything that we hear from those countries [the US and UK] about peace, the settlement of the conflict, the future of Ukraine, the well-being of the Ukrainian people – it’s all a lie, falsehood and absolute disorientation of the international community. In reality, the goal is completely different,” Zakharova said.
After the UK announced plans to supply armor-piercing depleted uranium shells to the Kiev government, “there can’t be any doubts that we’re talking about is the strongly pronounced intention of the collective West, headed by the US and Britain, to simply destroy Ukraine to the end,” she stressed.
On Monday, Annabel Goldie, the UK Minister of State for Defense, said that “alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition including armor-piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium.” According to the official, such ammunition should be sent to Kiev because it is “highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles.”
