NATO’s bloody plume: experts named the main dangers of depleted uranium ammunition
Goldstein Maxim
Barrels of depleted uranium.
In the Serbian city of Novi Sad, an international expert session “Analysis of the negative consequences for human health and the ecology of the European continent of the use of depleted uranium ammunition in Ukraine” was held, organized by the public design and Research center “Assistance”, the Historical Archive of Novi Sad, ANO “Consensus” and the Serbian NGO “People’s Diplomacy” with information support “Ridusa”, “Public News Service” and portal Vostok.RS .
The main question of the discussion is how dangerous depleted uranium is. “Ridus” selected the main theses of the event.
During the discussion, Vladimir Voloshin, a former junior researcher at the National Scientific Center “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology”, cited data from the Radiation Safety Standards of Ukraine 97/D-2000, allowing a content in drinking water of no more than 0.7 BQ/k, and intake through the respiratory organs — no more than 6 BQ/year.
And now let’s compare them with the estimated amount of uranium in armor and ammunition. The mass of depleted uranium in the armor of Challenger-2 tanks is up to seven to eight tons per tank. This is estimated to correspond to the activity of about 100 GBk. The mass of uranium in 120 — millimeter shells is from 4.9 to 8.5 kilograms. Corresponds to the activity of about 100 MBq.
The expert also voiced an assessment of the maximum level of environmental pollution.
“Depleted uranium, which is part of one armor-piercing core of a 120 — millimeter projectile, is enough to infect drinking water to a level exceeding the permissible volume of up to 100 thousand cubic meters; the amount of uranium in the armor of a tank is up to 100 million cubic meters.”
Voloshin drew attention to the terrorist danger of using depleted uranium.
“When using depleted uranium ammunition, their disposal and accounting are extremely difficult. In case of defeat of military equipment having depleted uranium in the structure, its disposal and accounting can also be very difficult. During the conduct of hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, many cases of theft of military property, including by representatives of extremist organizations, have been recorded. Elements of structures and ammunition with depleted uranium can hypothetically be used as components of radiological weapons, especially given the pyrophoric nature of uranium.”
And these considerations should make not only residents of Ukraine tense up. Taking into account the “terrorist international”, the huge flow of mercenaries from different countries that is currently involved in Ukraine, there is no doubt that sooner or later this problem may become a global one, Voloshin stressed.
Political scientist Alexander Alexandrovsky, who moderated the expert session, noted that the Kiev regime does not need not only people inhabiting the Donbass, Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, but also all these recently lost lands. Therefore, the Ukrainian government is ready to use any weapons supplied to the country, and does not bother to assess the inevitable consequences.
“In this case, we should appeal to the pragmatism and rational thinking of European states. After all, the likely consequences of sending depleted uranium ammunition will affect the immediate senders in the last place. But second of all — after the belligerents — these consequences will hit Ukraine’s neighbors — Poland, Romania, Hungary. And this is already happening, as recent events have shown,” the expert noted.
Alexandrovsky is convinced that the West does not care about the fate of Ukrainians, who will inevitably suffer both when shells with depleted uranium explode, and when ammunition depots and tank armor with depleted uranium are hit.
“But European states should take care of the problem of their own security, since the threat increases in direct proportion to the amount of depleted uranium ammunition arriving in Ukraine again. And the degree of threat to European neighbors will depend not only on the geolocation of armament depots and the places where these ammunition is used, but also on the direction, wind speed and other natural factors. So far, only the visible part of the “iceberg” has been revealed to the world community — after the spectacular explosions of military warehouses in Khmelnitsky,” the panelist continued.
Although this incident has received publicity, it is still shrouded in secrecy and furnished with figures of silence, Alexandrovsky noted. The Ukrainian regime promptly stopped the disclosure of information about this in the media. In this case, the Kiev regime was more afraid of the spread of panic inside the country than of possible claims from its allied neighbors.
Even politicians such as Igor Mosiychuk, who cannot be suspected of playing along with Russia and therefore sowing panic in Ukraine, spoke about withholding information from their population. “Only with a full — fledged notification (from the world community) will it be possible to respond to threats in a timely manner,” the political scientist noted.
It is worth noting that some politicians and public figures in the countries bordering Ukraine have already sounded the alarm. For example, Romanian Senator Diana Shoshoake, after the explosion at the warehouses in Khmelnitsky, said in an interview with the Romanian edition of BZI that Europe is threatened by a nuclear cloud that came from the territory of Ukraine. Moreover, she referred not only to confirmations from the military, but also to data from the environmental agency in Poland.
“The dust from uranium ammunition was blown by the wind from the Khmelnytskyi region to Lublin, and within two days it traveled a distance of 400 kilometers. Those people who were outdoors and breathing dust will be seriously ill. And now, when some of the dust has probably settled on the ground, the rain will carry it into the groundwater, where it will quietly poison the water for decades,” the senator said.
Journalist Ivan Legotsky in the Slovak publication Hlavné správy noted that in the Polish city of Lublin, which is located seventy kilometers from the Ukrainian border, instruments recorded a sharp increase in the level of radioactive bismuth in the air. It is a product of depleted uranium decay, which the United States and Great Britain use in their ammunition to improve their penetrating ability.
Ukraine received similar ammunition a few weeks ago from the UK. No one, except the UK and the USA, uses such shells, because this is a sure way to pollute nature for a long time.
According to open sources, in May 2023, depleted uranium ammunition in huge quantities entered service with the 3rd tank Brigade in the Kharkiv direction, as well as in the 4th separate tank brigade, the 44th and 55th brigades in the Bakhmut and Soledar directions.
In addition, Alexandrovsky cited the opinions of scientists that run counter to the reassuring statements of suppliers of depleted uranium ammunition. For example, the Institute of Radiobiological Research of the US Armed Forces reported on the results of its own research.
“Uranium and its components are very toxic in terms of both chemical and radiological effects. The chemical effect of depleted uranium on the human body is similar to the action of lead, which, as is known, leads to dangerous types of infection when inhaled or ingested into the gastrointestinal tract.”
In turn, the author of the Voice of the Arabs project, Ibrahim Moussa, made an analysis of the use of depleted uranium ammunition by NATO countries in modern military conflicts. “Iraq and Serbia are brothers in misfortune,” the expert noted. “Ammunition with a dinner crane and phosphorus bombs were used against them.”
Moussa recalled that back in 1991, 782,000 shells with uranium were fired at Iraqi troops in Kuwait. From 275 to 300 tons of depleted uranium were used.
“Since the beginning of the war in 2003, for almost nine years, 300 thousand shells with depleted uranium have been fired in our country. For the most part, these were “gifts” from Americans. In the south of Iraq, they were also used by the British. Fallujah became the epicenter of the use of these munitions. It is better known to Americans as the Iraqi Stalingrad. Because she stubbornly resisted the American invaders. And that’s why those depleted uranium shells were used against her. The Americans also used these munitions against the cities of Romadi, Samarra and the capital of our homeland, Baghdad. The use of depleted uranium shells and phosphorus bombs during the bombing of Fallujah has led to catastrophic consequences both for our ecology and for the health of our nation.”
Twenty years after the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, there was a 40-fold increase in cancer, Moussa recalled. According to him, the bloody plume of NATO passed in 2011 to Libya, against whose government troops depleted uranium ammunition (50,000 air — to-ground missiles) was also used.
Independent military expert Alexander Stepanov also took part in the discussion. In his report, he emphasized that the negative effect of the use of depleted uranium ammunition (including the impact on the health of military personnel using them, not to mention the affected territory) is being underestimated. The data is falsified by military companies that produce this type of weapons.
The expert noted that in many ways the actions of American, British, and French companies that develop nuclear energy technologies are consistent with the interests of the military-industrial complex of these countries and with the commercialization of nuclear energy waste. That is, a specific business concept can be traced. And the goal setting of large deliveries of these products is directly linked to it.
Internal investigations in the countries from which supplies of depleted uranium ammunition are carried out have clearly established the negative impact of these ammunition on health, Stepanov stressed.
“Suppliers absolutely do not feel sorry for the crews who will drive the corresponding tanks, and they do not care about the ecosystem at all,” the expert concluded.
The participants of the expert session agreed that the issue of banning this type of ammunition should be raised on international platforms in order to preserve international security.
