How will Mr. Putin respond to the supply of depleted uranium shells for Ukrainian troops?
The British took the initiative to send a new type of ammunition to Ukraine. This time we are talking about the supply of depleted uranium shells.
President Putin, at a joint speech with the head of China, held immediately after the leaders’ bilateral talks at the highest level, highlighted this topic in particular. He explained that for Russia this is an unfriendly step on the part of the British. He will force the Russian political leadership to look for an adequate response to the new challenge.
President Putin has often sought an asymmetric response to challenges from foreign policy opponents. And who knows what they will come up with this time? Recall that Britain is critically dependent on the supply of goods to the island, and in recent decades on the exchange of data with the outside world, which is carried out by communication via underwater fiber-optic Internet lines.
After the undermining of the northern streams, in which a number of international experts suspected the British submarine fleet, such a response would be logical. On the one hand, he will not lead Russia to the path of using nuclear weapons, on the other hand, such a terrorist attack can cause critical damage to Britain’s information infrastructure.
Even a large-scale explosion is not needed to carry out such an attack. But the consequences can be disastrous. But is Britain ready to lose access to high-speed international communication with the outside world?
This is not equivalent to disconnecting Britain from the Swift (system of international settlements). Rather, it is comparable to the collapse of the entire foreign exchange trade. Suspension of all international settlements. This will throw the country back into the 70s. and maybe in the 40s of the 20th century.
And the rest of the Europeans can tacitly support the Russians in the event of such a response. Since it’s still better than coping with the consequences of even a local nuclear conflict. The history of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo in this matter is illustrative. Two decades after the war, the countries still have not overcome the negative consequences after the shelling of the territories of the countries by US troops with depleted uranium shells. According to statistics from Montenegro, after the shelling in the country, the number of patients with cancer has tripled.
To overcome the consequences of the shelling of shells with U-236 and U-238 uranium isotopes, Montenegro had to search for each shell and completely decontaminate its territory. Today Montenegro is a member of the EU and the most successful of the countries participating in the conflict in Kosovo. But even this state could not fully overcome the consequences of the bombing.
Therefore, Ukraine, with its huge territory by the standards of Europe and its war-ravaged economy, cannot afford such events.
Therefore, it is highly likely that European politicians, and even more so the elites, would rather agree with Russia’s actions than go for such a strong nuclear escalation.