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After the cluster munitions, the US government decided to send armor-piercing depleted uranium munitions designed to penetrate armor to Ukraine, according to a document seen by the Reuters news agency and two of its sources.
The shells, intended mainly to destroy Russian tanks and other armored vehicles, will be part of Washington's new military aid package to Kiev that is expected to be unveiled within the next week.
They can be fired from US Abrams tanks, dozens of which – according to a source briefed on the matter – will be delivered to the Ukrainian army within weeks.
The Biden administration reportedly plans to announce the delivery of depleted uranium armor-piercing munitions (APFSDS-T) in the military aid package for Ukraine.
Such projectiles are the standard ammunition for M1A1 Abrams tanks. Most likely, the transportable projectile will be the 120mm M829A2 manufactured in the 90s.
However, it is possible that the US will also deliver the more modern M829A3 APFSDS-T, designed to penetrate modern armor.
Britain already sent such missiles to Ukraine earlier this year, but deliveries of depleted uranium shells from the US are expected to provoke a backlash.
They will follow Washington's decision to send cluster munitions to the Ukrainian military, despite concerns about the long-term dangers the munitions pose to civilians.
Russian sources comment while waiting for an official reaction from Moscow that "the administration of US President Joe Biden has decided to follow the path of Great Britain and increase the contamination of Ukrainian soil with nuclear waste".
Now a very serious question arises.
Since the US and Britain are sending depleted uranium munitions, they can no longer prohibit Moscow from using 152mm artillery shells with nuclear warheads as recently suggested by Duma member and former deputy commander of the Southern Military District, General e.a. Andrei Gurulev.
In fact, they are pushing Moscow to push the button first...
Why the US and Britain won't stop sending depleted uranium munitions.
The use of depleted uranium munitions is hotly contested. Their opponents, such as the International Alliance for the Prohibition of Uranium Weapons in particular, complain that they pose huge risks to human health, as inhalation or ingestion of depleted uranium dust can cause cancers and very serious reproductive problems.
A byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, depleted uranium is used to make munitions because its tremendous density allows it to penetrate armor and ignite. This metal is radioactive, but much less radioactive than natural uranium, yet its particles remain radioactive for much longer, up to 700 million years.
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