The Biden administration is set to supply Ukraine with controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium, marking the first such shipment from the United States, as revealed in a document obtained by Reuters and corroborated by two U.S. officials.
These rounds, capable of dismantling Russian tanks, constitute a component of an upcoming military assistance package for Ukraine, scheduled to be unveiled within the next week. These munitions can be deployed from U.S. Abrams tanks, which, according to an informed source, are expected to be delivered to Ukraine in the forthcoming weeks.
One of the officials indicated that the estimated value of the forthcoming aid package will fall in the range of $240 million to $375 million, contingent on its final composition. The specifics of the package, including its contents, were still under discussion at the time of this report, and the White House had not yet issued an immediate response to inquiries.
This decision to send depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine follows a previous move by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to the country, despite concerns about the risks these weapons pose to civilians.
The use of depleted uranium munitions has sparked intense debate, with critics, such as the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, highlighting the potential health hazards of ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, which may include cancer and birth defects.
Depleted uranium is a by-product of uranium enrichment and is employed in ammunition due to its remarkable density, which grants rounds the capability to penetrate armor plating effortlessly and ignite in a fiery cloud of dust and metal.
While depleted uranium is indeed radioactive, it is significantly less so than naturally occurring uranium. Nevertheless, particles can persist in the environment for extended periods.
The United States employed depleted uranium munitions extensively during the Gulf Wars of 1990 and 2003, as well as during the NATO bombing campaign in former Yugoslavia in 1999.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, has stated that research conducted in former Yugoslavia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon has indicated that the presence of dispersed depleted uranium residues in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the affected regions’ populations.
Nonetheless, the introduction of radioactive material could further complicate Ukraine’s already formidable post-war cleanup efforts. Certain areas of the country are already littered with unexploded ordnance from cluster bombs and other munitions, as well as hundreds of thousands of anti-personnel mines.
Reports in mid-June suggested that the U.S. was considering sending depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine.
Recent packages of weapons aid for Ukraine have encompassed artillery, air defense missiles, and ground vehicles, as Ukraine continues its counteroffensive efforts. At the time of this report, it remained unclear what other items were included in the package, aside from the depleted uranium rounds.
The funding authorization for this aid package operates under the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which empowers the president to transfer articles and services from the U.S. surplus inventory without requiring congressional approval during emergencies. The materials will be sourced from excess U.S. inventory.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, security assistance to Ukraine has exceeded $43 billion.
Source: with agencies