Putin Issues Depleted Uranium Warning to West—ISW

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning to the West over plans to send depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine, attempting to portray the move as a "significant escalation" in the war, a think tank has said.

Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow would be forced to respond should the U.K. supply the shells to Kyiv's forces. The president, who launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022, accused the West of sending Ukraine weapons "with a nuclear component."

A British junior defense minister, Annabel Goldie, said on Monday that the U.K. would be sending Ukraine armor-piercing shells that contain depleted uranium, as part of a military aid package along with Challenger 2 battle tanks. She said the ammunition was highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles.

"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 at the Kremlin after talks with China's President Xi Jinping.

"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," he added, but did not elaborate.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in Washington, D.C., said in its latest assessment of the conflict that Putin was seeking to portray this ammunition deal as a significant escalation.

The president is doing this "in order to bolster information operations aiming to deter Western security assistance to Ukraine and to place the onus for negotiations on the West," according to the think tank.

"Putin claimed that the UK's provision of depleted uranium shells indicated that the West is not ready for a 'peaceful settlement'," the ISW added.

The update published on Tuesday pointed out that anti-tank munitions in the West are commonly made of depleted uranium, which is less radioactive than natural uranium.

Despite Putin's reference to a "nuclear component," the ISW said these "munitions cannot be used to produce either nuclear or radiological weapons.

"Putin seeks to portray the provision of depleted uranium shells as escalatory in order to deter Western security assistance despite the shells not containing any fissile or radiological material."

Russia's foreign ministry has branded the move "a matter of absolute recklessness, irresponsibility, impunity."

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sputnik radio: "This is another British provocation, which is aimed at bringing the situation around Ukraine to a new round of aggression, conflict and confrontation, to give a qualitatively different dimension."

Zakharova described the use of such ammunition as a manifestation of genocide.

According to a World Health Organization report, "only military use of depleted uranium is likely to have any significant impact on environmental levels."

It added that "in some instances the levels of contamination in food and groundwater could rise after some years." These should be monitored and "appropriate measures taken where there is a reasonable possibility of significant quantities of depleted uranium entering the food chain."

Possible clean-up operations should be undertaken where "there are substantial numbers of radioactive particles remaining and depleted uranium contamination levels are deemed unacceptable by qualified experts.

"Areas with very high concentrations of depleted uranium may need to be cordoned off until they are cleaned up."

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