Putin Warns UK over Depleted Uranium Tank Shells for Ukraine 

By Staff, Agencies  

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would be “forced to react” if the United Kingdom provides Ukraine with armor-piercing tank ammunition that contains depleted uranium. 

Putin was reacting on Tuesday to news the UK’s defense minister, Annabel Goldie, had confirmed that ammunition containing depleted uranium was part of a military aid package being sent to Ukraine along with Challenger 2 battle tanks. 

“The United Kingdom… announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. If this happens, Russia will be forced to react,” Putin told reporters after talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping at the Kremlin. 

Putin further warned that “If all this happens, Russia will have to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component.”

In response to questions about the ammunition, Goldie said on Monday 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."

The ammunition was “highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles”, she said. 

Depleted uranium is a by-product of the nuclear enriching process used to make nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. Its heaviness lends itself for use in armor-piercing rounds as it helps them easily penetrate steel. 

The United Nations Environment Program has described such ammunition as “chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal.”

The UK’s Defense dismissed Putin’s warning on Tuesday, saying the armor-piercing shells had been standard equipment for decades and were “nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities.”