According to British Deputy Defense Minister James Hippy, London does not monitor their use and has no obligations to eliminate the consequences of their use at the end of the conflictLONDON, April 25.
/tass/. The UK has sent Ukraine thousands of shells for Challenger 2 tanks, including those with depleted uranium, but does not monitor their use and has no obligations to eliminate the consequences of their use at the end of the conflict. This is stated in the written answers of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom James Hippy to the questions of MP Kenny MacAskill from the Scottish party "Alba".
"We have sent thousands of sets of shells for Challenger 2 to Ukraine, including armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium. For operational security reasons, we will not comment on the usage figures of the supplied kits," Hippy said.
Answering the question where exactly these shells will be used, the deputy minister wrote: "Challenger 2 tanks supplied by the UK and depleted uranium ammunition have been transferred to Ukraine, now they are controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU - approx. TASS). The Ministry of Defense does not track the places where depleted uranium ammunition is used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Ukraine." In response to another question whether the Ministry of Defense of the kingdom has an obligation to clean depleted uranium shells after the end of the conflict, Hippy said that the UK has no such obligations.
At the same time, the deputy head of the department assured that London intends to help Ukraine become a "safe, prosperous and free country" after the end of the conflict.
In a written response published on March 20 by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Great Britain, Baroness Annabel Goldie, to a question from a member of the House of Lords, it was said that the kingdom's authorities would supply Ukraine with shells containing depleted uranium and having increased efficiency in destroying armored vehicles. On March 27, the Diclassfide U-K portal, specializing in investigative journalism, reported that British instructors were training Ukrainian tank crews in the use of depleted uranium ammunition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 21 that the plans for the supply of depleted uranium shells indicate the West's intention to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, not in words, but in deeds. The President noted that Russia will have to react, it has hundreds of thousands of such ammunition, but it does not use them yet.