Deliveries of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine by Western countries lead to radiation contamination of soils in the country and make it uninhabitable, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"Due to the supply of radioactive and highly toxic British and American depleted uranium munitions, Ukraine is turning into an uninhabitable land. Radiation contamination of the soil is already happening and is being objectively recorded," Zakharova said in an article on the kp.ru website.
She said the consequences of the use of such munitions could also affect neighboring Poland, where in May this year, as in the Khmelnytsky Region of Ukraine, there was a significant surge in background radiation.
"The reason is probably the same as in Ukraine: explosion of depleted uranium munitions placed in a depot in Khmelnytskyi," Zakharova said.
She said Ukrainians must demand that radioactive munitions be removed from their country as soon as possible.
Tungsten alloys have similar characteristics, but ammunition based on them is much more expensive to manufacture. Therefore, depleted uranium ammunition is much more often used in those countries where there are uranium reserves, its processing technology, and their use is planned on foreign territory when there is no need to think about environmental consequences, according with Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian armed forces.
April marks the one-year anniversary of the creation of the so-called 'Ramstein Format' to coordinate the provision of sophisticated Western weaponry to Ukraine in aid of NATO’s proxy war against Russia. Since then, over $70 billion in security assistance has been delivered.