Ukraine will be armed with depleted uranium anti-tank rounds that can aid its troops in piercing Russian tanks, said the Pentagon. The controversial 120mm anti-tanks shells will be used to boost the performance of 31 M1A1 Abram tanks the US will give Ukraine in the fall. The US is looking to aid Kyiv in dismantling Russian lines in eastern, northeastern and southern regions amid a simmering counteroffensive by the Ukrainians. The rounds, developed by the US during the Cold War, have previously destroyed Soviet tanks, including the decades old T-72 tanks dispatched by Moscow in the continuing war. The 46th drawdown of military equipment from the Department of Defence includes additional air defence equipment, artillery rounds and anti-tank weapons, and was announced shortly after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Ukrainian counterpart and foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday. “We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long term to make sure that it has a strong deterrent, strong defence capacity so that, in the future, aggressions like this don’t happen again,” Mr Blinken said in a statement before the two leaders met. The UK had also announced in March that it would give depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine, leaving Russia fuming and falsely claiming they had provided nuclear components. On Thursday, Russia snapped at Washington and called the latest military aid of depleted uranium a “criminal act” beyond just escalation. “It is a reflection of Washington’s outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of using this kind of ammunition in a combat zone. This is, in fact, a criminal act, I cannot give any other assessment,” said Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov. He also reiterated previous warnings by Russia about the risk of a nuclear war, because of what he called Western “pressure” on Moscow. “Now this pressure is dangerously balancing on the brink of direct armed conflict between nuclear powers,” he said. Russia has deployed hypersonic missiles to thermobaric weapons on civilian targets in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine which has continued for more than 20 months now. Officials in Moscow have never taken responsibility for explaining using ballistic Kinzhal missiles, a barrage of which was fired on Ukraine in March this year. The missile has a range of up to 2,000km (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept. In April this year, the British defence ministry said Russia is likely handing over thermobaric multiple launch rocket systems to its elite airborne forces, suggesting its use in the continuing war. Thermobaric weapons, fired using the multiple launch rocket systems, are considered to be some of the most brutal war weapons in existence. “The highly destructive TOS-1A, which Russia designates as a ‘heavy flamethrower’, is typically operated by Russia’s specialist Chemical, Biological and Radiological Protection Troops in Ukraine, and has not previously been formally associated with the VDV,” the ministry had said. Russia had admitted to using the flamethrower weapon in March last year. Also known as vacuum bombs, they suck in oxygen and generate a powerful explosion that can have a devastating impact on victims – especially in an enclosed space. In another attack, Russia used cluster bombs which killed a child and two adults hiding in a pre-school in northeastern Ukraine. While the depleted uranium rounds retain some radioactive properties, they can’t generate a nuclear reaction like a nuclear weapon would, RAND nuclear expert and policy researcher Edward Geist said. The Pentagon has defended the use of the munitions. The US military “has procured, stored, and used depleted uranium rounds for several decades, since these are a longstanding element of some conventional munitions,” Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Lt Col Garron Garn said in a statement in March. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary UN nuclear watchdog report seen by AP says Iran slows its enrichment of near-weapons-grade uranium Ukraine war: US send depleted uranium to Kyiv after blast near Russia military base Greek shipper pleads guilty to smuggling Iranian crude oil and will pay $2.4 million fine

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Vladimir Putin has presided over a rehearsal to deliver what the Kremlin described as a “massive” nuclear strike, including the test launch of multiple ballistic missiles. While Russia holds similar rehearsals every autumn, Wednesday’s show of force came just hours after Moscow’s withdrawal from a significant nuclear test ban treaty and as its invasion of Ukraine approaches its second winter. Footage broadcast on state television showed the Russian president overseeing the annual exercises, dubbed “Grom”, via video call. The purpose of the drill was to “deliver a massive nuclear strike... in response to an enemy nuclear strike”, said defence minister Sergei Shoigu. The Kremlin said a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from a test site to a target in Russia’s far east, a nuclear-powered submarine launched a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea and Tu-95MS long-range bombers test fired air-launched cruise missiles. Russia, which has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has passed a bill in parliament that would revoke its ratification of a key nuclear test ban treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Though it has never formally come into force, the CTBT has helped deter nuclear weapons testing around the world, with only North Korea conducting an explosive nuclear bomb test this century. Ukraine has said Russia’s withdrawal of its CTBT ratification was an attempt at “nuclear blackmail”. Mr Putin, who will be sent the bill for final approval, has said revoking Russia’s ratification would “mirror” the stance of the US, which has signed but did not ratify the nuclear test ban. Video footage of Wednesday’s military exercise released by the Russian defence ministry showed the land- and submarine-launched missiles piercing the night sky with loud roars, while nuclear-capable bomber aircraft departed from an airfield under the cover of darkness. “Under the leadership of the supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, training was conducted with the forces and means of the ground, sea and air components of the nuclear deterrent forces,” the Kremlin said in a statement. “During the training, practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place. The tasks planned in the course of the training exercise were fully accomplished,” it said. The latest developments have raised widespread concerns that Moscow could resume nuclear testing in attempts to discourage the West from continuing to offer military support to Ukraine. Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier this month that Moscow will continue to respect the ban and will only resume nuclear tests if Washington does it first. On Wednesday, Mr Ryabkov said the Russian foreign ministry had received proposals from the US to restart discussions regarding strategic stability and arms control matters. However, he pointed out that, given the current political climate, Moscow does not view it as feasible. “We aren’t ready for it because the return to a dialogue on strategic stability... as it was conducted in the past is impossible until the US revises its deeply hostile policy course in relation to Russia,” Mr Ryabkov told reporters in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

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