Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Tuesday with "retaliation" if London supplies Ukraine with munitions containing depleted uranium, reacting to statements to that effect by a British official.

"Today it was reported that the United Kingdom (...) had announced not only the delivery of tanks to Ukraine, but also shells containing depleted uranium (...) If this happens, Russia will be forced to retaliate" Putin said.

"It seems that the West has really decided to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, not with words but with deeds," the Russian president continued. "The West is beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component," he added.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that "Russia has something to answer for." "We'll see what they plan to use," he warned. "One more step has been taken" in escalation, he added.

On Monday night, Britain's Deputy Defense Minister Annabel Goldie said in response to a written question from a British lawmaker that the UK planned to supply Ukraine with shells "containing depleted uranium".

"These munitions are very effective in destroying modern tanks and armored vehicles," he said in his written response, explaining that the shells were intended for use with Challenger tanks that London also planned to supply.

Britain's anti-nuclear organization Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament condemned the delivery of depleted uranium ammunition, saying in a statement on Tuesday that it would be a "new environmental and health disaster for those living at the heart of the conflict."

Depleted uranium projectiles are armor-piercing munitions whose use has been criticized due to the risks they pose to the health of the soldiers who use them and the inhabitants of the attacked areas.

According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), depleted uranium is a "chemically and radiologically polluting heavy metal".

Depleted uranium munitions had been cited as a possible cause of "Gulf Syndrome", the health problems of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, but this has not been scientifically proven.

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