Russia has reacted furiously to the United Kingdom over the tank ammunition the British sent to Ukraine. It would be tank-piercing bullets containing depleted uranium. Putin even speaks of nuclear escalation.
But Putin has anything but a point, thinks defense specialist Peter Wijninga of the The Hague Center for Strategic Studies. ‘Putin is just framing,’ concludes Wijninga. ‘Depleted uranium has a radioactive level that has been reduced to such an extent that it is not harmful to humans.’
Radiation
In fact, the radiation from depleted uranium would dwarf the background radiation that is everywhere, he thinks. ‘But it’s rock hard, so it’s used to pierce armor on tanks and armored vehicles. It is very suitable for that.’
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Although the radioactivity is not dangerous, Wijninga emphasizes that it is indeed a toxic substance. Breathing in depleted uranium is still life-threatening, “although the person using it probably doesn’t suffer much from it,” he continues. “And neither does the person who is affected by it.”
Known
Wijninga is also surprised by the way Putin reacts. According to him, Putin could have known for a long time that this type of ammunition was on its way, because it belongs to the British Challenger tanks. Wijninga thinks that Putin was ‘just looking for a moment’ to unleash his rhetoric on the West and his supporters again. ‘Towards his own supporters it is now mainly ‘we will not let people walk all over us’, while he is trying to sow division towards the West.’
