DISINFO: Rounds with depleted uranium are dirty bombs
SUMMARY
Rounds with depleted uranium are like dirty bombs. Their aim is radioactive contamination of a territory. Russian land – the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson Regions – will be affected.
RESPONSE
This is a new disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets, capitalising on fears of fissile material and trying to accuse the West of providing Ukraine with nuclear arms. This claim was made in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
In reality, rounds using depleted uranium are not nuclear weapons or dirty bombs. The radioactivity level of depleted uranium is negligible. It carries minimal health effects. Under international agreements, munitions containing this isotope are considered neither nuclear nor chemical weapons. See here for further debunking by The Insider (in Russian).
Former British Army tank commander - and chemical weapons expert - Col Hamish de Breton-Gordon, said Putin's comments on deliveries of rounds with depleted uranium were "classic disinformation". He added it was "laughable" to suggest depleted uranium rounds were in any way linked to nuclear weapons, which use enriched uranium.
Depleted uranium has a higher density than ordinary steel; about 2,5 times and about 1,5 times more dense than lead. This allows a tank shell to gain more momentum and penetrate armour more effectively.
Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby said at a briefing on 22 March 2023: “... there have been health studies done on depleted uranium munitions. It is not a radioactive threat. It is not anywhere close to going into the nuclear realm. (…) This is a commonplace type of munition that is used particularly for its armor-piercing capabilities.” He added: “So, again, if Russia is deeply concerned about the welfare of their tanks and their tank soldiers, the safest thing for them to do is to move them across the border and get them out of Ukraine.”
Read disinformation narratives claiming that Radioactive substances brought to Ukraine could be used to make a "dirty bomb" and that Western Leopard tanks firing radioactive ammo will destroy health of Ukrainians.