DISINFO: UK will supply Ukraine with taboo genocidal weapons
SUMMARY
The Anglo-Saxon's intention to supply depleted uranium shells to Ukraine is a provocation of a new level of aggression and confrontation. The use of depleted uranium projectiles is an act of genocide against the population. Washington and London are lying about their desire for peace in Ukraine and their true goal is to destroy it.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation about the Anglo-Saxons wanting the destruction of Ukraine and preparing genocide against the Ukrainian population with the weapons supplied to counter Russian aggression.
On the 6th March 2023, the UK Government confirmed that:
"Alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition, including armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium. Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armoured vehicles".
Depleted uranium shells are not considered to be nuclear weapons.
"They are not meant to poison people. They are used because of their capability to pierce armour," says Dr Marina Miron, from Kings College London. See also this article from the BBC in which Former British Army tank commander - and chemical weapons expert - Col Hamish de Breton-Gordon states that "depleted uranium rounds used by Challenger 2 tanks contained only trace elements of depleted uranium. He added it was "laughable" to suggest depleted uranium rounds were in any way linked to nuclear weapons, which uses enriched uranium".
Genocide is the crime of intentionally destroying part or all of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, by killing people or by other methods. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word γένος (genos, "race, people") with the Latin suffix -caedo ("act of killing").
The use of depleted uranium projectiles cannot be qualified in any way as genocide. The intent of using such a weapon is to kill or incapacitate enemy soldiers that are protected by significant shielding.
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.
In 2007, the UN General Assembly launched a study to find out the health effects of depleted uranium weapons. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) found no significant poisoning was caused by exposure to depleted uranium.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims Radioactive substances brought to Ukraine could be used to make a "dirty bomb", that Western tanks given to Ukraine could deliver nuclear warheads, that Kyiv passed from rejecting nuclear weapons to preparing a dirty bomb and that Ukraine is going to use a dirty bomb to accuse Russia of using tactical nuclear weapons.
Read also related cases: Ukraine commits water genocide in Crimea, Kyiv agrees to carry out genocide of Ukrainian citizens in exchange for IMF loans, France is a new look on tyranny
"Anglo-Saxons" is a favorite derogatory phrase in Kremlin disinformation and manipulation - see our account here.