Great Britain announced Wednesday that it was supplying Ukraine with armor-piercing shells made with depleted uranium.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says every day this happens “it brings the nuclear apocalypse closer.”

Former President of Russia and current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev: "The threat of nuclear conflict has not gone away; it has increased."

"Every day of foreign weapons deliveries to Ukraine brings the nuclear apocalypse closer." pic.twitter.com/GWfmsgXT4d

— GraphicW (@GraphicW5) March 22, 2023

The probability of a nuclear conflict is now higher than it was in the past few decades — Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation

▪️ The United States should come to its senses, and not continue playing with fire on the topic of restoring START

▪️ A condition for the… pic.twitter.com/nB7sQNu7Tj

— GraphicW (@GraphicW5) March 22, 2023

The New York Times defended British military deliveries to Ukraine.

Britain on Wednesday defended its decision to supply Ukraine with weapons made with depleted uranium, a day after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia falsely claimed the material had a “nuclear component.”

 

Britain’s government has confirmed that it would provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells that contain depleted uranium, alongside its Challenger 2 tanks, which use them. Depleted uranium is a standard component in conventional anti-armor weapons that NATO countries have used for decades, and Britain said in a statement that the ammunition it was providing had nothing to do with nuclear weapons.

 

The density of depleted uranium makes it an effective material for piercing heavy armor on the battlefield, and is used by many militaries. Among them are Russia’s, which upgraded its main battle tank to add the ability to fire depleted uranium shells, the Tass state news agency reported in 2018.