00:00 Yesterday, the Pentagon announced a new security assistance package worth up to $1 billion
00:07 for Ukraine, including depleted uranium ammunition for M1 Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver
00:13 to Ukraine this fall.
00:15 It is the first time the US will be sending the controversial armor-piercing munitions
00:19 to Kiev.
00:20 The Pentagon said the military aid would also include anti-armor systems, tactical air navigation
00:26 systems and additional ammunitions for high-mobility artillery rocket systems or the HIMAR.
00:32 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new aid for Ukraine in a visit to Kiev as
00:37 he hailed the months-long counteroffensive against the Russian forces in the country's
00:42 southeast.
00:43 The Pentagon has said it would be indeed sending depleted uranium ammunition, which is highly
00:47 effective at piercing armor plates.
00:50 In this decision, the USA follows Britain's lead in sending the controversial munitions
00:54 to help Kiev push through Russian lines in its gruelling counteroffensive.
00:59 But Russia has denounced this decision of sending depleted uranium ammunitions as an
01:03 indicator of inhumanity, adding that the United States is deluding itself by refusing to accept
01:09 the failure of the Ukrainian military's so-called counteroffensive.
01:13 Earlier in March, when Britain said it would supply the shells, the Russian President Vladimir
01:19 Putin had warned that Moscow would respond accordingly given that the West was starting
01:24 to use weapons with what he called a nuclear component.
01:29 Depleted uranium is a by-product of the process to create the rarer enriched uranium used
01:33 in nuclear fuel and weapons.
01:35 Although far less powerful than enriched uranium and incapable of generating a nuclear reaction,
01:41 depleted uranium is extremely dense, more dense than lead, a quality that makes it highly
01:46 attractive as a projectile.
01:48 It is so dense and it has got so much momentum that it just keeps going through the armor
01:53 and it heats it up so much that it catches fire.
01:56 When fired, a depleted uranium munition becomes essentially an exotic metal dart fired at
02:02 an extraordinarily high speed.
02:04 This means that when it strikes a tank's armor, it cuts through in the blink of an eye before
02:09 exploding in a burning cloud of dust and metal, while the soaring temperatures explode the
02:13 tank's fuel and ammunition.
02:16 While depleted uranium munitions are not considered nuclear weapons, their emission of low levels
02:21 of radiation has led the UN nuclear watchdog to urge caution when handling and warn of
02:26 the possible dangers of exposure.
02:28 The IAEA notes that depleted uranium is mainly a toxic chemical as opposed to a radiation
02:35 hazard.
02:36 Particles in aerosols can be inhaled or ingested and while most could be excreted again, some
02:41 can enter the bloodstream and may cause kidney damage.
02:45 Depleted uranium munitions as well as depleted uranium-enhanced armor were used by US tanks
02:50 in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq's T-72 tanks and again in the invasion of Iraq in 2003
02:56 as well as in Serbia and in Kosovo.
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