The Pentagon has announced that they are going to send depleted uranium armoured piercing tank rounds to Ukraine which has enraged Moscow.
The US State Department said in a statement, “The rounds, which could help destroy Russian tanks, are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine.”
“The munitions can be fired from U.S. Abrams tanks that, according to a person familiar with the matter, are expected be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
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“One of the officials said that the coming aid package will be worth between $240 million and $375 million depending on what is included.”
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov called this a “criminal act” by sending uranium to the battlefields in Ukraine.
Russia’s embassy in Washington said, “The administration’s decision to supply weapons with depleted uranium is an indicator of inhumanity.
Clearly, with its idea of inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’ [on Russia], Washington is prepared to fight not only to the last Ukrainian but also to do away with entire generations.”
Adding, “There is no dialogue there.”
Depleted uranium is a by-product of uranium enrichment which is used for ammunition because of its extreme density, it is also radioactive, but a lot less that natural uranium which can linger for a period of time.
The density provides the rounds with the ability to easily penetrate armoured plating and self-ignite in a searing cloud of dust and metal killing everyone inside a tank.
