"James Heappey's comments are a grim testament to the ruthlessness of the Anglo-Saxons' policy of an all-out escalation of the 'proxy conflict' they themselves unleashed in Ukraine. It has by now become self-evident that the West intends this country to become not only an anti-Russian military 'shooting range,' but also a radioactive landfill - with all the ensuing grave consequences for the health of local residents and the environment in the region," the statement by Russia's Embassy in London said.
"We have already spoken about depleted uranium more than once. Whoever says that DU munitions are not radioactive and not included in the relevant lists of the IAEA, there are facts and interviews with people who suffered [from consequences of strikes with such missiles] in the former Yugoslavia, they were shown on TV channels around the world," Lavrov stated, adding that Britain needs to be aware of its responsibility.
"This, of course, is not the case. The fact is that they do not belong to the category of weapons of mass destruction. That's true. But the core of the projectile with depleted uranium (different materials can be used, it is used for armor-piercing purposes) still generates so-called radiation dust, and in this sense it of course amounts to a weapon of the most dangerous kind," Putin said.