The U.S. government intends to approve the supply of tank-fired depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, U.S. media outlet The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday citing its sources.

If the decision is formally approved, the U.S. will become the second country after the United Kingdom to provide depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine.

Citing a senior U.S. official, the report said that the approval of this type of ammunition faces no obstruction after a series of debates within the White House.

According to the report, the Pentagon insists on sending depleted uranium shells specifically due to their increased efficiency. Earlier this year, the U.S. decided to provide Ukraine with its M1A1 Abrams main battle tank and depleted uranium shells is one of the tank's ammunition.

On the same day, addressing the issue of the West supplying depleted uranium shells to Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia also has depleted uranium ammunition and it reserves the right to use them as a response.

Shadow of depleted uranium

Depleted uranium is the main by-product of uranium enrichment and is a chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

This dense metal is used in munitions for its penetrating ability and as a protective material in armored vehicles. 

Read more: EXPLAINER: What is depleted uranium? Is it a nuclear weapon? Is it safe?

It has been used in armor-piercing ordnance since at least the 1990 Gulf War, while it is now also used in armor plating for tanks: the M1A1 Abrams battle tank has been equipped with it since the late 1980s.

A resolution adopted by the UN in December 2022 takes into account the potential harmful effects of the use of armaments and ammunition containing depleted uranium on human health and the environment, noting they can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase the risk of cancer.

Three thousand victims of depleted uranium bombs entrusted an international team of lawyers to file a lawsuit against NATO in June 2022 for the bad impact of the 15-ton depleted uranium bombs dropped by NATO.

Twenty-three years ago on March 24, the U.S.-led NATO launched a 78-day continuous bombardment against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without the approval of the UN Security Council.

During the period, NATO dropped nearly 420,000 bombs totaling 22,000 tons, including 15 tons of depleted uranium bombs, which directly killed more than 2,500 people, including 79 children, and caused more than 1 million refugees.

In the decade after the bombing, some 30,000 people in Serbia suffered from cancer, and more than 10,000 of them died. According to the Institute of Public Health of Belgrade, as of the end of 2019, the number of registered cancer patients in Serbia was as high as 97,000. 

In addition, as of May 2019, 366 Italian soldiers who participated in NATO military operations had died of cancer, and 7,500 suffered from illness.

However, NATO and the U.S. have so far denied the side effect of depleted uranium bombs.

The shadow of the ammunition aroused public attention again as the British government announced on March 20 that it would provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium, sparking widespread fear and anger.

Later, the U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CBS News when mentioning UK's decision that "there is no radioactive threat from depleted uranium rounds that are common on the battlefield."

"It makes me mad to think that now they (NATO countries) are going to use depleted uranium ammunition again in Ukraine, because they haven't learned from the past at all," Mafalda Casillo, whose brother died at the age of 22 after touching equipment contaminated by depleted uranium in Yugoslavia as a NATO solider, told China Media Group.

(Cover: The latest type of M1 Abrams main battle tank in Bavaria, Germany, May 11, 2023. /CFP)