The Russia-Ukraine war is still ongoing. Several developments were reported, Thursday (7/9/2023) to Friday (8/9/2023).
Quoting CNBC International, Russian officials were angry with the United States (US) after that country supplied uranium weapons to Ukraine. Earlier, the Pentagon announced additional security assistance of US$175 million for Kyiv on Wednesday, which includes uranium ammunition for US-made Abrams tanks.
“This is not just an escalatory step, but it is a reflection of Washington’s disregard for the environmental impact of using this kind of munitions in combat zones,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Russian news agency TASS.
“In fact, this is a criminal act, I cannot give any other assessment,” he added.
“Now this pressure has become very dangerous and is on the verge of direct armed conflict between nuclear states,” he threatened.
The Russian Embassy in the US also provided an official statement. Putin’s representatives said the move was “an indicator of inhumanity”.
“Washington is obsessed with the idea of inflicting ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia, ready to fight not only Ukraine but also to end its future generations,” the embassy wrote on its Telegram channel.
Uranium ammunition is famous for its high density. It has the ability to penetrate heavily armored vehicles making it very effective against tanks.
In the Russo-Ukrainian war, Britain had sent uranium ammunition earlier in the year to Kyiv. But the delivery by the US was the first of its kind and sparked concerns about the danger to civilians.
In fact, the US used uranium ammunition in the Gulf Wars in 1990 and 2003 and in the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
It is believed that the presence of uranium residues scattered in the environment could pose a radiological hazard to residents in the affected areas.
On the other hand, attacks continue to occur in Russian cities. President Vladimir Putin’s military reportedly shot down several drones in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia, and near the border with Ukraine, even declaring a state of emergency in those locations.
Residents were even evacuated. Moscow and Bryansk were also targeted in separate attacks.
The governor of the Rostov region, Vasily Golubev, said via Telegram Thursday that the air defense system had been activated in the early hours. According to him, two drones had been shot down.
“One fell outside the city, in the western part of Rostov, the second in the center, near Pushkinskaya Street,” he said.
“As a result, a number of cars were damaged. One person was injured,” said Golubev, adding that three buildings were also damaged.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said via his Telegram account on Thursday that air defense forces had stopped an attempted drone attack in Moscow’s Ramensky district. But he confirmed there were no reports of damage or casualties.
Meanwhile, Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz reported three separate drone attacks in the region and near the city of Bryansk. One attack caused light damage to the train station, station square and several cars.
The Russian-Ukrainian war occurred in February 2022. As a result of state media prices of energy and a number of food commodities soared and caused inflation to rise in parts of the world, which depend on Russia’s natural resources.
Source : CNBC
