The first batch of British-made Challenger 2 tanks arrived in Ukraine on Monday as reports said Berlin also delivered 18 of its Leopard tanks to the country.
The UK will send a total of 14 Challenger 2 tanks that will be armed with depleted uranium ammunition, a controversial munition that is radioactive and linked to cancer and birth defects in Iraq, where US forces commonly used the rounds.
Britain’s deputy defense minister confirmed last week that the Challenger 2s would be armed with depleted uranium despite Russian warnings. Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, a move he said was a response to the UK arming Ukraine with depleted uranium.
Also on Monday, reports said Germany has delivered 18 of its Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Der Spiegel reported the last of the tanks left Germany last week and were handed to Ukraine at the border. Poland said in February that it had delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine and was preparing to send more.
Germany initially pledged to put together 60 Leopard tanks for Ukraine but has fallen far short of that goal. The US has sped up plans to get 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine by refurbishing older models instead of building new ones, but they will still take eight to 10 months to deliver.
The number of Challengers, Leopards, and Abrams still falls short of what Ukraine has been asking for. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, told The Economist in December that he needed 300 tanks to beat Russia.
The US and its allies want Ukraine to launch a counteroffensive this spring and hope the new tanks can help. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the offensive can’t begin until Western countries send even more weapons.
The provision of Western-made tanks to Ukraine marks a significant escalation in NATO’s role in the war. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously ruled out the idea of arming Ukraine with Leopards because he said he was trying to avoid a direct clash between NATO and Russia to prevent a nuclear war.
Another step closer to World War 3.
I would say bring it on except we will all be dead.
Wendell, perhaps that’s what required in order to foment a reset of the planet.
I personally though, would prefer to die as a result of participation in a Revolution in order that my grandchildren inherent a better world. Am I willing to do so? F*ckin’ aye I am!
But that revolution wouldn’t guarantee a better world. It would be a complete clusterf*ck that more than likely would make us a fractured sh*thole and you’d die for nothing.
“On the Beach”, in reality.
The USA NEEDS to be “fractured” into a few separate countries for the sake of freedom and peace in the world.
YES JAY, I’ve been saying that for years!
It would be nice. But then we’d have the red states vs. the blue states, just for starters, and dozens of mini civil wars.
Still Wars, we cannot go on with the status quo.
Something must be done, and voting isn’t very effective; we think we can change by doing so, but so far it ain’t a-workin’ 🙁
Have you walked through a grocery store recently? Or any other outlet that has our fellow revolutionaries walking through? We, as a country, are so grotesquely out of shape that the revolution will have to be fought with those little electric carts carrying those fat asses throughout those grocery stores I spoke of. Plus, who is the enemy? Anyone in government? I just can’t see how there could be any kind of coherent plan. And doing something for the sake of doing something is the basis for our sanctions. I don’t have the answer, but I’m on the home stretch of life and I don’t want to be stuck in something that could be much worse. As much as I despise the rot in DC, I believe I have a pretty good life.
i think the reality is that the world’s fearless leaders who would bring that about would all hide in their safety-holes and their indoctrinated fearless descendants would emerge to rule over the lemmings once again
Here’s the thang, Spy. How long could they exist in their hidey-holes? They’d have to emerge SOMEtime. And to what? A world where nothing can grow on the land and the water is contaminated? Not even any wildlife to hunt for food? Much better to die immediately and get it over with 😐
yes i would rather disappear in a flash of heat than languish for the rest of my life
I remember when the Biden Administration was saying that it was nonsense for Putin to think that a NATO foothold in Ukraine would constitute an existential threat to Russia’s national security.
Well, you can always trust the Biden administration…
I am not sure that one can trust one person or one word that comes out from the Political varmints in the American Political sysrem.
If UK uses radioactive weapons against Russia, it would be adequate if Russia uses radioactive weapons against UK. The deployment of tactical nukes in Belarus has nothing to do with that; it is for counterbalancing NATO forces which are concentrated in Poland and Germany.
If the Ukrainians use British radioactive weapons against Russia from British tanks . I think it’s certain Russia will firstly use radioactive weapons on Ukraine. The nuclear weapons in Belarus are protection from Russia that if Lukashenko decides to invade from the north , NATO will stay put. I anticipate this will happen.
This madness all could have been avoided if the illegal coup didn’t happen in 2014, the West’s support of genocide against Russian speakers in the Donbass via Azov neo Nazi’s.
The failure to assure Russia of no further NATO expansionism and Ukraine not joining this offensive alliance.
I just went out in my yard and threw a bunch of bananas — 3,520 picocuries per kilo of radioactivity — in a generally northeastern direction. Are the Russians going to nuke me now?
Don’t slip on the peels, Thomas…
Short answer? Probably, if you keep making jokes as bad as this!
Most intelligent people know there is such a thing as naturally occurring radioactivity.
And we should appreciate K40, as there is a better than even chance that the Earth wouldn’t have a magnetic field without it.
It would be extremely stupid if Russia uses the radioactive weapons in Ukraine. Particular in the south-eastern regions which probably will be incorporated into Russia in not so remote future.
I believe Russia has taken that into account.
right. and it would also be extremely stupid if Ukraine forces use the depleted-uranium munitions that UK is giving them in Ukraine
Yes, it is extremely stupid but, nevertheless, they will do it.
depleted uranium munitions are the devil’s work
I would like to point out, Russia is already using DU in Ukraine. Secondly Ukraine is not Russia these rounds will be used against Russian invaders in Ukraine and will unfortunately cause some environmental pollution in Ukraine. It is however not as bad as being part of Russia
I agree 100%. The US started this shit in 2014.It is not the first Govt the US has overthrown. America has a history of changing Governments that don’t sing our song.
Or dance to our music.
The problem with Anglo-Saxon strategy, they are investing great resources in effort to make the life for other people as miserable as possible. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not, but it is always done at the expense of the security and prosperity of the human kind. They are helping only their loyal vassals and even that is changeable. For example, the sabotage of Nord Stream damaged Germany more than Russia. This strategy is absolutely vicious and can’t have a good outcome.
Define good? Good for them is WWIII. I’d say they are doing a great job so a far at starting that.
No, it was the people who overthrew their president after Yanukovych sold Ukraine to Putin who bribed Yanukovych with billions to avoid Ukraine to sign the highly expected prolific economic agreement with the EU and the potential of Ukraine selling natural gas to the EU. Putin wanted that gas market monopoly and would not split those EU customers with no one.
The USA had it’s hands all over that Coup that overthrew an elected Government, just like Iran in 1953!!!!!!!!!
Those were powerful cookes
Victorie Nuland is STILL the ambassador, even after getting caught red handed starting the protests and saying F the EU on tape. I wonder where NULAND’s bloodline is from? Probably not ar from Gestapo Netanyahuf
I’d put some dressing on that word salad before trotting it out 😉
What is your proof that Putin bribed Yanukovych? The EU offered to loan money to Ukraine at very high interest rates that Ukraine would never be able to afford. Putin offered Ukraine a much better deal, and Yanukovych chose to go with that deal. The EU was furious with Putin because it stopped the EU bankers from being able to loot Ukraine when it could not repay the loans. I believe Yanukovych is a billionaire, so I don’t think he was in need of bribery money.
Proof that Putin bribed Yanukovich is open source. Your version of the loan story is a Complete BS created by the Kremlin in an effort to change history.
Show me the proof then. I must have missed it.
Don Julio is my favorite Tequila. But sorry I can’t agree, I think both sides were rife with corruption and dueling over controlling the flow of gas to Europe. We are all the pawns, stuck in the middle of their war games. And no, they don’t care about us, or whether we destroy the planet with Nuclear fusion. So long as they still hold the power and control over whatever is left.
I don’t believe the US and NATO are taking Putin seriously.If pushed into a corner a wounder animal fighting to protect her cubs can be really dangerous. Putin is trying to preserve what is left of Russia against the depredations of NATO.Making war on the Soviet Union led to Hitlers demise.My sister likes to vacation in southern France. I hope Europe does not become radioactive.
Putin is trying to preserve his discretionary authority. He no more gives a tinker’s damn about the “cubs” than any other politician does.
Oh come one, you are more intelligent than that.
maybe he has chosen his side
Thomas, I think he cares a great deal about His “cubs”, unlike the USA! Purge the DC Ghouls!
That is as thin as anything you’ve written here since hostilities broke out.
Consider Putin vs Trump. I would venture Putin has more invested in the well being of his cubs than Trump had in his. But hey, your mileage may vary.
He’s a “former” Chekist who has established de facto one-party rule in service to a particular set of oligarchs, jails not just their main opponents but anyone who dares criticize anything they do, has managed to finagle another “former” Chekist into control of the country’s main cultural pillar (the church), and is pretty much just running a gigantic grift for the benefit of the latest version of the ruling class.
Not that he’s unique in that respect. The US regime uses different tactics, but has the same goals and achieves the same outcomes.
The “cubs” are livestock. He’s the rancher. The sheep get sheared and the beef cattle get slaughtered. All while being told it’s for their own good, and on the basis of death cult hooha like nationalism/patriotism.
I hear you Thomas, and I don’t disagree with the universality of the primate disease. But there are variations in the degree to which these kinds of comments apply.
I regard Putin as primarily a tactician when it comes to manipulating political symbols and real estate, and if he is compared to other leaders in this category, he thinks about and does many of the same things.
This said, I would rate him above some of the current leaders in the west in terms of his knowledge of history that is determinative in tactical and strategic decision making.
I also believe that his decisions re Ukraine go beyond simple use of brute force when I examine the manner in which this operation was named and executed. And NO, I do not agree that his move on Kiev was some kind of oafish blunder. It appears to me that the outcome was one of the possible results considered by his military staff, but still “worth” the risk of a rout.
The name Special Military Operation reflects another gambit (also rejected by the West who had – and have – their own agenda) aimed at confining the outbreak which we have – a nearly total war in Ukraine, a war publicly encouraged by the United States, not once but throughout the course of this conflict.
The fact that Putin was open to these two gambits only reflects the fact that he is a rational actor and not the raging beast cartooned in the west.
So, I don’t think attaching cartoonish characterizations is very illuminating. By way of contrast, I find DC’s approach insane, as we have tried and failed to apply it to so many countries, thereby portraying ourselves as brutish idiots.
So, I respectfully disagree. Not all players are equally deranged primates.
Some people just love dictators.
Trump is an idiot and Putin is a thug.
Yes. But protecting Russia is a common interest among Russians whoever be in power. Rolling over for the West didn’t work in the 90s. Putin is pretty much in line with Russian governmental history.
If we on this website know English tanks are inside Ukraine; I’m thinking Russian military know exactly where they are.
they should paint targets on them
What would stop Russia from destroying these tanks the minute they enter UK? They do have smart rockets, I would think….
Did you mean Ukraine (UA)?
Nothing is stopping them, they are just unable to do so. Their smart rockets aren’t so smart plus UA has depleted the Russian army to the point that they cannot do anything to change the course of the war.
The nuclear escalation begins…with the British of all people. Sunak is trying to do what Bush did – failing economy and massive strikes and inflation at home, better go escalate tensions in a foreign war. Madness.
Yes, the nuclear war has started.
It’s sad to see the Germans continuing to go along with the war against Russia even after the U.S. destroyed the pipeline that provided cheap energy to their country. It seems that some of the European countries are on a suicidal mission and unfortunately they will probably get there.
All German wars against Russia finished bad for Germany and yet they are trying it again and again.
Well, doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome IS a sign of insanity, right? 🙂
Their leaders are just plain stupid.
How big is a batch of tanks? Just curious.
The US position is embarrassing.
HERE IS 32 TANKS. NOW LAUNCH AN OFFENSIVE.
And then we act like Zelenski is being ungrateful when he points out that he needs EVEN MORE tanks to launch an offensive.
I offered TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for a brand new car, and he said he needed EVEN MORE.
I hope someone plants depleted uranium in the back yards of the UK’s owners.
Well it looks like Russia must destroy those radioactive tanks as soon as possible before they start polluting the natural environment.
“The UK will send a total of 14 Challenger 2 tanks that, a controversial munition that is radioactive and linked to cancer and birth defects in Iraq, where US forces commonly used the rounds.”
My personal feeling is that Russia should collect any and all depleted Uranium ammunition found on the battlefield along with any debris from the shells or destroyed vehicles and airdrop this radioactive metal on London!
Just like cluster munitions and napalm some weapons are immoral.
However, Some analysts think that these Uranium shells are the only shell England had for these tanks.
For anyone wanting to debate the safety of Depleted Uranium ammunition here are two eye opening videos. This artillery and 30 mm are deadly for enemy troop, civilians, and our own military.
Depleted Uranium
“Doug Rokke talking about depeleted uranium and the troubles it can cause.”
Uranium, A Controversial Weapon Or Poison? | Depleted Uranium – Documentary Preview
“Uranium has been used in warfare since 1991. During the Gulf war depleted uranium was extensively used by the American forces to annihilate Saddam Hussein’s militia. This high-density metal has since been regarded as a deadly poison for its life-altering effects like mutations and unnatural birth while some praise it as an ultimate weapon. What is the truth behind the mystery of Uranium?”
` https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipIbykwwSjg
Depleted Uranium shells could poison the land of Eastern Ukraine for many years. This in itself should be a war crime.
So, the Nuclear Energy Industry has a standard which goes by the acronym ALARA. Depleted Uranium Shells violate the basic concepts of radiation avoidance and protection which are the bed rock of mitigating diseases caused by long-term low-level exposure to radiation sources.
ALARA stands for “as low as reasonably achievable”. ALARA means avoiding exposure to radiation that does not have a direct benefit to you, even if the dose is small. To do this, you can use three basic protective measures in radiation safety: time, distance, and shielding.
Recommended dose levels have steadily been lowered since 1945. Levels of exposure once thought acceptable are now known to have detrimental problems from cancer to organ failure.
“DU is about 60% as radioactive as natural uranium.Most of the alpha radiation comes from 238 U and 234 U whereas beta radiation comes from 234 Th and 234 Pa
that are formed within a few weeks.”
“The use of DU in munitions is controversial because of concerns about potential long-term health effects.[7][8] Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and numerous other systems can be affected by exposure to uranium, a toxic metal.[9]”
“The aerosol or spallation frangible powder produced by impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites, leading to possible inhalation by human beings.[11]”
“The actual level of acute and chronic toxicity of DU is also controversial. Several studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents suggest the possibility of leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological effects from chronic exposure.[7]”
“According to an article in Al Jazeera, DU from American artillery is suspected to be one of the major causes of an increase in the general mortality rate in Iraq since 1991.[12]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium