The UK Ministry of Defence says depleted uranium is a standard component of modern armaments and is not a nuclear weapon, and calls Russian statements on the issue “deliberate disinformation”. The British army has been using depleted uranium in its armor-piercing shells for decades, and independent scientific research has shown that depleted uranium impact on human health and the environment is minimal.
Social media and Russian websites are spreading disinformation claiming that the transfer of depleted uranium shells by Britain to Ukraine is a new level of aggression and a “new provocation by London”. This was declared by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who warned that Britain’s decision “will take the conflict to a new level”.
“This is a question of absolute recklessness, irresponsibility, and impunity of the Anglo-Saxons, the international affairs Anglo-Saxon duo of London and Washington. (…) This is another British provocation aimed at raising the situation around Ukraine to a new level of aggression, conflict, and confrontation, to give it a qualitatively different dimension,” the Russian news agency RIA “Novosti” quoted Zakharova. She called the use of such ammunition “genocide”, because, in her opinion, “everyone who lives in this territory, who is in the nearby areas, receives a corresponding dose of radiation.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also stated that Moscow will be forced to react to “weapons with a nuclear component”. He suddenly became concerned that such weapons, which will be used against the Russian army on Ukrainian territory, would “pose a threat to people’s health”.
Responding to Russian accusations, the UK Defense Ministry emphasized that depleted uranium is a standard armaments component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium has been used in armor-piercing shells for decades, and independent studies have shown that the impact on human health and the environment from the use of such ammunition is insignificant.
News stories containing the word “uranium” seem to have an unfavorable effect on the Russian leadership. Another leak of Russian disinformation began to gain momentum after British Minister of State for Defense Annabel Goldie stated that some of the ammunition the UK will supply to Ukraine along with Challenger 2 tanks contains depleted uranium.
After manipulative statements by the Russian authorities, Great Britain accused Russia of deliberate disinformation regarding the issue of depleted uranium. “It is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform,” (…) 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,” CNN quotes the British Defense Ministry
In addition, in a comment made to the BBC, former British tank regiment commander and chemical weapons expert Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon stated that depleted uranium shells used in Challenger 2 tanks contain only trace amounts of depleted uranium. He added that it is “laughable” to suggest that depleted uranium shells are in any way connected to nuclear weapons, which use enriched uranium.
Depleted uranium is naturally occurring uranium, which has been stripped of much, but not all, of its radioactive matter. It is a waste product from the process through which uranium is enriched for use in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons.
Depleted uranium is used in armor-piercing shells and bombs to create greater penetrating power. Depleted uranium shells sharpen on impact and this increases their ability to bore through armor. When a shell with a depleted uranium tip or core strikes a solid object, such as the side of a tank, it passes through it and then explodes in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is poisonous but also slightly radioactive, according to the BBC.
Furthermore, as previously reported by StopFake, international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) have jointly concluded in their research that there is no evidence of risk to the environment or human health from depleted uranium. Compared to natural radiation, radiation exposure from this substance is very low.
Ammunition containing depleted uranium was widely used in wars in the Persian Gulf, Serbia and Kosovo. “After all three conflicts, scientists examined soldiers for possible effects of depleted uranium exposure. Among veterans of the second Gulf War, the long-predicted connection between uranium and the war syndrome was not confirmed, and the number of cases of various types of cancer did not noticeably increase,” reports the German publication Die Welt. Russian propaganda is once again cynically trying to blame the “West” for the war’s escalation and harm to the health of Ukrainians, without mentioning that it is Russia that invaded the territory of another state and is systematically destroying its population and infrastructure.
StopFake continues to debunk similar fakes about Russia’s war against Ukraine in the articles “Fake: Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks pose a threat to the health of Ukrainians,” “Fake: Ukraine has been allowed to make a dirty nuclear bomb and use it on Russian territory,” “Fake: Ukraine has accumulated huge stocks of uranium and plutonium at the Zaporizhzhia NPP to create a nuclear bomb.”
