Putin Ally Warns of Worldwide 'Lesson' if Uranium Ammo Used in Ukraine

• Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized the United Kingdom's plan of providing Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium.
• Lukashenko warned that if the U.K. gave the ammo to Ukraine, Russia would respond by giving Belarus ammo with "real uranium."
  
• Putin said Ukraine being provided with the ammunition would constitute an escalation in the conflict on the part of the West.
  
• The U.K. has responded to Putin's claims, clarifying that the uranium munitions are purely conventional and not nuclear.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday waded into the discussion about Ukraine being provided with ammunition that contains depleted uranium, calling the plan "madness."

The comments from Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, came after British Minister of State for Defense, Annabel Goldie, said in a Monday statement that the U.K. would provide Ukraine with some depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds to accompany the Challenger 2 battle tanks that the country is giving Ukraine. Goldie noted that the ammo was "highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles."

Putin reacted to the news by warning that Russia would "respond accordingly" if the U.K. gave the ammo to Ukraine, saying such weapons would have "a nuclear component."

According to Reuters, Lukashenko told reporters that if the U.K. supplied Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium, Russia would respond by giving Belarus ammo with "real uranium."

"We need to step back from this madness. As soon as this ammunition explodes on Russian troops' positions, you will see a fearful response, it will be a lesson for the whole planet," Lukashenko said, according to the news agency.

"Russia does not only have depleted uranium...We have to lower this trend towards escalation in the conflict and move towards a peaceful settlement," the Belarusian leader reportedly added.

Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova also spoke out on the munitions that contain the heavy metal, which she called "weapons of mass destruction."

"Everything that we hear from those [Western] countries 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," Zakharova said during a radio interview, according to the Russian state outlet RT.

On Wednesday, the United Kingdom addressed Putin's comments and pushed back on the Russian leader's suggestion that the use of uranium munitions constituted a form of nuclear escalation on the part of Ukraine's Western allies.

"There is no nuclear escalation. The only country in the world that is talking about nuclear issues is Russia. There is no threat to Russia, this is purely about helping Ukraine defend itself," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said at a government event on technology, according to Reuters.

He continued, "It's worth making sure everyone understands that just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions."

"Depleted Uranium, or DU, is what is left over after the vastly more radioactive form of uranium, U-235, is taken from natural uranium ore. U235 is the stuff used to power nuclear power plants and give nuclear warheads their explosive power," Guy McCardle, managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek.

McCardle also explained how DU is "extremely effective at killing tanks."

"DU is extremely hard and dense, almost twice as dense as lead. It's like an incredibly heavy dart and will penetrate just about any armor out there. When it penetrates the tank, it shatters the armor dispersing it inside as hot shrapnel killing the unlucky occupants," he said. "As DU penetrator round hits a target, its surface temperature increased dramatically causing localized softening of the armor, kind of like a hot knife through butter. The extreme heat also tends to make the tank's fuel load and/or ammunition explode. Tankers call this 'behind the target effectiveness.'"

As for Putin's characterization of DU, McCardle said the Russian leader "is fully aware that these in no way are nuclear weapons in the sense an atomic bomb would be."

"The UN does not consider DU ammunition to be nuclear weapons. It would kind of be like saying a spoiled ham sandwich is a biological weapon," McCardle added.

On its website, the International Atomic Energy Agency writes that depleted uranium is "considerably less radioactive than natural uranium," but cancer can be a risk for people exposed to radiation emitted by natural and depleted uranium.

However, the agency also said that while depleted uranium "is assumed to be potentially carcinogenic," the "lack of evidence for a definite cancer risk in studies over many decades is significant and should put the results of assessments in perspective."

When reached by Newsweek for comment, Britain's Ministry of Defense (MOD) responded with a written statement.

"Alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine we will be providing ammunition, including armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium. Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles," a MOD spokesperson told Newsweek in the statement. "The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armor piercing shells for decades. It is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform."

The statement added, "Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact to personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be low."

Newsweek reached out to Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.