Depleted uranium munition is fairly commonplace, and it has been in use for decades, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Wednesday while commenting on the decision of the British government to provide Kiev with armor-piercing shells for its Challenger 2 main battle tanks, including depleted uranium ammunition.  

"This kind of ammunition is fairly commonplace, been in use for decades," Kirby told reporters.

The US will let the UK speak for itself in terms of what sovereign decisions they are going to make about providing ammunition, he claimed.

"Alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition including armor-piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium," Deputy Defense Minister Annabel Goldie told Parliament on Tuesday in response to a question from Lord Raymond Hylton. "Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles."

The UK will transfer depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, said Deputy Defense Minister Annabel Goldie.

Such projectiles infect the area and can cause cancer. pic.twitter.com/QEPuFfdWDx

— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 21, 2023

In response to the UK's plan to deliver depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Konstantin Gavrilov, the leader of the Russian delegation at the military security and weapons control negotiations in Vienna, told Sputnik that NATO has entirely lost touch with reality.

"The Anglo-Saxons have long adopted the principle that 'Everything is allowed against Russia,'" he added. 

Back in January, the United States refused to disclose whether Washington would give Ukraine depleted uranium anti-tank munition in light of the ongoing war in the country, The Intercept reported, citing the transcript of a press briefing.

The West is supplying depleted uranium shells despite there being mountains of evidence showing that the weapon causes cancer and birth defects.

Read next: Tragic birth defects in Iraq caused by US radiation pollution: Expert

According to The Intercept, an unnamed reporter asked on January 25 unnamed "senior administration officials" at a background briefing whether the Bradley Fighting Vehicles Washington sent to Ukraine in the form of aid would be armed with the 25 mm armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds they are renowned for being able to fire.

Depleted uranium is a common byproduct of manufacturing nuclear fuel and weaponry, making it able to penetrate through the thick layers of a tank's armor and ignite everyone inside of it, though the radioactivity and toxicity of these rounds are believed to have caused birth defects, cancer, and other diseases, most notably in Iraq during the US war on the country. 

The US heavily used depleted uranium rounds in Iraq during the Gulf War, firing nearly a million rounds, and the subsequent years saw a spike in birth defects and cancers in the country.

Despite the cons of using depleted uranium, the West is unable to curb Ukraine from using it if it falls into its hands, as they are believed to be able to help Kiev against Russia's tanks.

Nuclear apocalypse looming closer

The deliveries of foreign weapons to Ukraine bring the possibility of a nuclear apocalypse closer to the world, said Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev during an interview.

"Every day of deliveries of foreign weapons to Ukraine ultimately brings this very nuclear apocalypse closer," Medvedev said.

Read next: Pentagon: Russia made no decisions to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Furthermore, the top Russian official said the threat of a nuclear conflict in the world has not passed, it has increased.

"Now seriously. Has the threat of a nuclear conflict passed? No, it has not passed, it has increased," he explained.

Read more: Putin: Risk of nuclear warfare on the rise