British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey recently confirmed that thousands of depleted uranium rounds, including armor-piercing ammunition for Challenger 2 tanks, have been sent to Ukraine, according to a report from Zero Hedge.
Heappey was asked by Scottish MP Kenny MacAskill how many depleted uranium rounds the UK supplied to Ukraine for use in the tanks.
“We have sent thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine, including depleted uranium armour-piercing rounds. For operational security reasons, we will not comment on Ukrainian usage rates for the rounds provided,” Heappey responded.
MP MacAskill also asked Heappey whether the UK is monitoring the usage rates of depleted uranium rounds against Russian forces.
“For operational security reasons, we will not comment on Ukrainian usage rates for the rounds provided,” answered Heappy.
The United States has already supplied Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Kiev, which have the capability of being equipped with depleted uranium munitions, the Zero Hedge report points out.
However, the White House has not disclosed if these vehicles have been outfitted with such munitions.
Following Heappey’s acknowledgment, Moscow’s UK embassy issued a statement, saying, “James Heappey’s comments are a grim testament to the ruthlessness of the Anglo-Saxons’ policy of all-out escalation of the ‘proxy conflict’ they themselves unleashed in Ukraine.”
“He cynically stated that London is not monitoring the deployment of these weapons and has no obligation to eliminate the consequences of their use following the end of the conflict,” the statement continued.
According to Russian news sources, Russia has urged foreign powers to cease all weapon shipments to Ukraine and has argued that the aid will not deter its military aims but only prolong the conflict.
