Former US officer Krapivnik is sure that “something more powerful” has blown into the air
Ukraine is quietly trying to eliminate the consequences of the grandiose explosions in Khmelnytsky and Ternopil. Judging by the scale of the explosion, it is possible that the Russian Aerospace Forces hit a storage facility with depleted uranium shells supplied by the UK for their Challenger 2 tanks. According to the ex-US Army officer Stanislav Krapivnik, judging by the nature of the explosion, not only British ammunition with depleted uranium, but “something more serious” that could have been secretly delivered to Ukraine.
The expert did not rule out that radioactive materials supplied to Kiev to create a «dirty bomb» could have been destroyed in the warehouses.
Recent explosions in Khmelnytsky in western Ukraine have amazed even the worldly-wise by their scale. A huge cloud of smoke that rose above the ground in a matter of minutes turned into something similar to a «nuclear mushroom». However, Kiev did not comment on the consequences of the explosion. But on Monday, alarming data began to come in about a sharp increase in the radiation background in the area. In Khmelnitsky and Ternopil, where warehouses also exploded, dosimetric patrols appeared.
Recall that Russia reacted sharply to the news about the supply of shells with depleted uranium for Challenger 2 tanks by London to Ukraine. The citizens of Ukraine themselves received this news with alarm. The reason for this is the terrible experience of Iraq and Yugoslavia, which experienced the consequences of the use of ammunition with depleted uranium. In these countries, after the NATO bombings, a sharp increase in all kinds of oncological diseases, infant mortality and deformities among newborns was noted.
According to military expert Stanislav Krapivnik, in Ukraine «something more than just ammunition with depleted uranium exploded» . The number of dangerous shells promised by the British, the expert is sure, would not have given such an explosion.
— The British said that they had transferred more than a thousand depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine, he recalled. — For 14 Challenger tanks, 2 thousand ammunition is approximately 2.5 ammunition per company. It's not very much.
Judging by the scale of the explosion and the fact that there was even a recorded earthquake of 3.4 points, there was much more explosive material in the warehouses. It is curious that depleted uranium emits beta particles during combustion, but not gamma radiation, which is recorded in this region. She rose, though not critically, but sharply. This can be found in open sources. And this makes the situation more dangerous.
According to Krapivnik, it remains a mystery what else the enemy could hide in the affected warehouses.
— The fact that gamma radiation was recorded at the site of the explosion is very interesting. Because it is not clear what they blew up there. Perhaps there were fuel depots for nuclear power plants, perhaps a “dirty” nuclear bomb was being prepared there. It is difficult now to say what exactly they brought from the West. But if there is gamma radiation, then there was something more serious than a thousand shells with depleted uranium.
The military expert recalled that scattered dust from uranium shells enters the body and thus creates a favorable environment for cancer.
— I would not compare with Chernobyl. The scale is not the same. But to worry, if I were in the place of those who live there and were engaged in extinguishing the fire, I would still start. For people who have already inhaled this smoke, the consequences can be the most adverse. In this region, the climate is more or less humid, over time, all waste will be washed away. But again, it all depends on the amount and intensity of rains…. If the Poles still try to seize the western lands of Ukraine, then now it will be their headache.
The expert recalled that depleted uranium is used not only in shells for tanks, but also in the 25-millimeter automatic guns of American infantry fighting vehicles «Bradley», in aircraft and helicopter weapons.
— Depleted uranium is used in most Western weapons. There is not much of it, but it is still present.
Another military expert, Alexei Leonkov, editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, said that the UK could supply more than a thousand depleted uranium shells. guns, he said. — Typically, the Challenger 2 ammunition load includes 52 rounds. How many armor-piercing sub-caliber shells will be in this ammunition load is up to the crew to decide. How much the British could supply for 14 tanks — at least a thousand, or even two thousand.
Leonkov recalled that depleted uranium was added to the alloy of an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile in order to increase its armor penetration. Such a projectile could penetrate 600-700 mm armor. Such armor penetration, the expert says, was once relevant, but now modern Russian tanks have active dynamic protection, which significantly reduces the effect of anti-tank shells.
— When hit in such protection, shells, as a rule, are destroyed. And therein lies the danger. Once in the body in the form of dust or compounds, they cause cancer. As a rule, a surge in the disease is observed five years after the use of shells in any area. This is confirmed by the events in Serbia and Iraq.
Aleksey Leonkov also does not exclude that there was something else in the Ukrainian warehouses besides uranium shells.
— There most likely were others types of ammunition. And which ones — Ukraine will not report to us. Now the NATO countries are supplying more than they say, and the range of supplies is much wider. But what was there was definitely intended for further military operations.
The military expert recalled that depleted uranium is also used in nuclear energy, which indirectly confirms the version that the enemy had the ability to create «dirty » bombs.
— There are reactors that use this uranium as fuel, he said. — And there is also the technology of centrifuges, which allows you to get enriched uranium, up to weapons-grade.