President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will be “forced to react” if Britain sends shells made from depleted uranium to Ukraine. He accused the West of deploying weapons with a “nuclear component,” the BBC reported.

Britain has confirmed it will supply Kiev with armor-piercing missiles along with Challenger 2 tanks, but insisted they pose a low radiation risk.

Depleted uranium “is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Depleted uranium, used for decades

“The British military has used depleted uranium in its armor-piercing projectiles for decades,” the statement added.

“Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to misinform. “Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact on personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be negligible,” the British Ministry of Defense emphasized.

Former British Army tank commander and chemical weapons expert Col. Hamish de Breton-Gordon called Putin’s comments “classic disinformation.”

The depleted uranium ammunition used in the Challenger 2 tanks contained only trace amounts of uranium, he said.

He added that it is “ludicrous” to suggest that depleted uranium projectiles are somehow related to nuclear weapons that use enriched uranium.

Depleted uranium is what remains after natural uranium has been enriched to make weapons or reactor fuel.

In its solid form, it is slightly radioactive. But it is a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than lead, and is used to strengthen projectiles so they can penetrate armor and steel.

When a weapon made with a tip or core of depleted uranium strikes a solid object, such as the side of a tank, it passes through it and then erupts in a cloud of burning vapor.

The vapors settle as dust, which is poisonous and also slightly radioactive.

The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium is a more significant problem than radioactivity

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that sending depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine would mean that Britain is “ready to violate international humanitarian law, as it did in 1999 in Yugoslavia.”

“There is no doubt that this will end badly for London,” Lavrov added.

On Tuesday evening, a Pentagon spokesman said that the US would not send depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine.

Depleted uranium projectiles have been used in Iraq and the Balkans, where some claim they are linked to birth defects.

The report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for 2022 states that depleted uranium is an environmental problem in Ukraine.

“Depleted uranium and toxic substances in conventional explosives can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase the risk of cancer,” it said.

“The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium is considered a more important problem than the possible effects of its radioactivity,” he added.