US to send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine

• The US is set to send controversial radioactive munitions to Ukraine.
• Exposure to radioactive uranium dust could lead to detrimental health risks, including birth defects and cancers.
• The longevity of the radioactive particles could add to Ukraine's post-war clean-up challenge.

The US is sending controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, Reuters reports.

The shells are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine set to be announced next week. The package will be worth between $240 million and $375 million, though the value and contents are still being finalized, according to an official.

Although this is the first time the US is supplying these munitions to Ukraine, it is not the first Western country to do so. The UK sent depleted uranium munitions earlier this year, Al Jazeera reported.

At the time, Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would "respond accordingly given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a "nuclear component."

Depleted uranium ammunition is not considered nuclear weaponry, but it contains low levels of radiation. The radiation levels are notably lower than naturally occurring uranium, but the particles can linger for a significant amount of time. The longevity of the particles could add to Ukraine's post-war clean-up challenge.

Depleted uranium is a by-product of uranium enrichment, and its extreme density gives rounds the ability to easily penetrate armor plating and self-ignite.

The decision will likely cause controversy because of the dangers the munitions pose to civilians. The Biden administration faced similar backlash earlier this year when they provided Ukraine with cluster munitions.

Cluster munition rocket attacks killed at least eight civilians and wounded another 15 in Russian-controlled Izium last year, Human Rights Watch said.

The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons says inhaling or ingesting radioactive uranium dust can lead to detrimental health risks, including birth defects and cancers.

Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says that studies indicated that "the existence of depleted uranium residues dispersed in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the population of the affected regions."

The shells, which will come from US excess inventory, would be funded by the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which lets the president make transfers from US stocks without Congress' approval in the case of an emergency.

The $240 million to $375 million would add to the $43 billion in US security assistance to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

As Ukraine's counteroffensive pushes onward, its recent weapons aid packages have included air defense missiles, ground vehicles, and artillery.