MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has compared possible use of ammunition containing depleted uranium in Ukraine to the opening of a Pandora's box and has called on Ukrainians to give a good deal of thought as to whether they really want it.
Earlier, the United Kingdom announced plans to supply depleted uranium shells to Ukraine.
"These are not nuclear weapons in the narrow sense of this word, but these are weapons with a nuclear trail. And this type of weapons was used in Yugoslavia, there are no final assessments, there is no ban on these weapons either. But delayed consequences could be very heavy, because the Serbs themselves, former Yugoslavs, are speaking about a considerable increase in cancer rates," Medvedev said answering questions from Russian journalists and users of the VK social network.
"I think that currently it would be good even for the people within the borders of the Ukrainian state to ask themselves whether they want such ordnance to be used, because they are opening a Pandora's box. It is them who are doing it, not the other way round," he said.
Ammunition with depleted uranium cores "pierces through armor well," he added.
"And so be it, it may seem, because what counts most during a war is to eliminate the enemy, but the problem is that the dirt from it will stay in any case. We cannot judge how dangerous it is," Medvedev said.
"Indeed, Uranium-234 and Uranium-235, which are used there, if I am not mistaken, have a half-life of 3.5 billion years. What is this uranium depleted? It is because it is less radioactive than conventional uranium. But, on the other hand, it is still radioactive, and, after all, it leaves a radioactive trail," Medvedev said in conclusion.