Russia sees nuclear threat in transfer of tanks to Ukraine
Ukremlin commented on Germany's decision to supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks. It said that Berlin was allegedly forced to take this step, and that the supply of certain types of ammunition for these vehicles would be regarded in Moscow as the use of "dirty bombs."
According to the BBC Russian service, at the ongoing OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation, the head of the Russian delegation, Konstantin Gavrilov, made loud statements against Ukraine and its partners. He saw a nuclear threat in sub-caliber uranium-tipped missiles and threatened the West that supplying Kyiv with such munitions would be regarded as the use of "dirty nuclear bombs against Russia with all the ensuing consequences."
"We warn the Western sponsors of the Kyiv military machine against encouraging nuclear provocations and blackmail. We are aware that the Leopard 2 tank, as well as Bradley and Marder armored personnel carriers, are armed with sub-caliber armor-piercing shells with uranium cores, the use of which leads to contamination of the territory, as happened in Yugoslavia and Iraq. If Kyiv is supplied with such shells for NATO heavy military equipment, we will consider it as the use of dirty nuclear bombs against Russia with all the ensuing consequences," Gavrilov said at the meeting.
Gavrilov also believed that NATO and the United States "simply forced" Germany to agree to the supply of German tanks by threatening Berlin with international isolation.
Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 26/01/2023
