Yesterday, the Pentagon announced a new security assistance package worth up to $175 million for Ukraine, including depleted uranium ammunition for M1 Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine this fall. It is the first time the US will be sending the controversial armour-piercing munitions to Kyiv. The Pentagon said the military aid would also include anti-armour systems, tactical air navigation systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems …or the HIMARS. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new aid for Ukraine in a visit to Kyiv, including about $665m in new military and civilian security assistance, as he hailed the months-long counteroffensive against the Russian forces in the country’s southeast.
#Depleteduraniumukraine #Ukraineneaidpackage #Blinkenkyivvisit
#Depleteduraniumukraine #Ukraineneaidpackage #Blinkenkyivvisit
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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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