Alwaght- Ukraine war has entered its 15th month while there are no clear prospects for its end. The West on the one hand tasks the French President Emmanuel Macron to work out a peace initiative and on the other hand by providing unconventional weapons to the embattled Ukrainian forces inflames tensions.
Having failed to check the Russian advances by supplying the Ukrainians with much-vaunted Patriot missile systems and Leopard tanks, the US and Europe have recently picked a new path to test their chances on the battleground. British Minister of State for Armed Forces James Heappey on Tuesday said that London sent thousands of ammunition including those containing depleted uranium to Challenger 2 tanks in Ukraine. Ukraine chooses how to use them and the British forces have no control over them, Heappey held. The British official further pointed out that London bears no responsibility to eliminate consequences of use of these ammunition after war ends.
Delivery of deadly weapons and ammunitions to Kiev comes as in March, American and British military advisers held a special training course for Ukrainian soldiers to teach them how to work with these ammunitions. These weapons will mainly be used for British Challenger 2 tanks, and London has already promised to send 14 of these tanks to Ukraine. However, it is not yet clear whether these tanks have been delivered to Ukraine.
London move has infuriated the Russians. Russian embassy in Britain in a strong-toned statement said “James Heappey’s comments are a grim testament to the ruthlessness of the Anglo-Saxons’ policy of all-out escalation of the ‘proxy conflict’ they themselves unleashed in Ukraine.”
“He cynically stated that London is not monitoring the deployment of these weapons and has no obligation to eliminate the consequences of their use following the end of the conflict,” the statement further held.
The embassy went on to say that the British government could not escape accountability by passing them off to Ukrainian forces. It also stated that the government would be responsible for the effects of the “toxic ammunition.”
The embassy further stated that the British government was responsible for the effects of these toxic munitions and cannot avoid responsibility by placing the responsibility on Ukraine.
“Now it is quite clear that the West has determined for this country not only the role of an anti-Russian military training base, but also a “radioactive grave.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned that given the Western use of weapons with nuclear factors, Moscow will give proportionate response.
Washington and NATO chief downplayed the Russian concerns, saying that these weapons were not that much dangerous.
Risks of depleted uranium
Although the British officials, to reduce international and Russian sensitivity, argued that the risks to life and environment of depleted uranium are low, new research shows that these munitions can endanger human health. Depleted uranium, though having weakened uranium and not acting like an atomic bomb, has a long shelf life in nature and pollutes the earth and natural resources for many years and causes genetic mutations in plants and indeed in humans.
Depleted uranium used by the American and European armies falls in the category of the weapons of mass destruction, the use of which is prohibited according to many international treaties, and the connection between them and the fatal disease of cancer has been proven medically.
According to Doug Weir, research and policy director at Conflict and Environment Observatory, when the depleted uranium penetrators strike a target, “they fragment and burn, generating chemically toxic and radioactive DU particulate that poses an inhalational risk to people.” Nevertheless, the authorities of the United States and the United Kingdom have contested the purported risks associated with such substances over an extended period of time.
The US used these weapons for the first time against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm in 1990, and then used large amounts of these weapons in second Iraq war and also in Afghanistan. A number of Afghan and Iraqi children are born with birth defects due to the radiation caused by these weapons, and most of them are at risk of cancer. Therefore, the use of depleted uranium weapons in Ukraine, mainly in the areas of Russian majority in the east of this country, will have harmful effects on the residents of these areas in the future. In other words, with these weapons, the Westerners want to start a genocide of the Russians in Ukraine in order to avenge their defeat.
West avoids responsibility
That London avoids responsibility for cleanup of the areas tainted with depleted uranium after war demonstrates that the Westerners do not want to accept responsibility for start of war. Since uranium has long-term impacts, the West bears the responsibility for that.
As the American and European officials argue that Russia should bear the cost of Ukraine reconstruction, the West should also undertake the responsibility of committing crimes and cleaning up the areas contaminated with depleted uranium. The West has already refused to accept its crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq and adopted the same logic in Ukraine and evade accountability for inhumane actions that threaten lives of millions.
Delivery of weapons containing depleted uranium shows that the war in Ukraine is moving away from its conventional form towards the use of unconventional weapons. Russian officials say use of these uranium rounds will only pave the way for further escalation of tensions and they warn about nuclearization of the conflict.
Given the Russian warning about use of nuclear weapons if the West tries to defeat Moscow, use of depleted uranium in ammunition against the Russians can take the war out of its current conventional status to a apocalyptic stage. Russian officials have warned in recent days that the world has reached a dangerous point and there is possibility of a thirds world war, blaming the West for it.
Scorched earth policy
Laked Pentagon documents suggest that the West is disappointed with Ukraine win over Russia or even recapture of regions lost to Russian forces, and so it plans to prolong war and increase Russian costs by sending modern weapons and uranium ammunitions for the final goal of giving its traditional rival a scorched earth. Eastern Ukraine regions are reduced to ruins due to 15 months of fierce fighting there and many cities in them are deserted and they will be uninhabitable should depleted uranium ammunitions are used in them. Therefore, what remains for Russia is ruins that take over $500 billion to rebuild.
Sending advanced Western weapons to Ukraine in recent months is only aimed at prolonging the war and weakening Russia’s military and economic power, but these moves may lead Moscow to make difficult and decisive decisions with unpleasant consequences for the world.
Grave consequences of use of depleted uranium will be experienced by the Ukrainians as people in Afghanistan and Iraq struggle with these consequences after two decades and it is the West to blame because it turns Ukraine into a graveyard of banned weapons under the excuse of defending its allies. The people pay the price as they fall victim to ambitions of the US and Europe leaders.
