MOSCOW

Russia slammed the UK on Wednesday for its plan to supply Ukraine with shells containing depleted uranium. 

In a statement on its website, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the initiative was "further proof of London’s intention to aggravate the confrontation” and contradicted the UK’s claim of being “committed to the post-conflict rebuilding of that country."

"London has apparently forgotten about the well-known serious consequences of the use of toxic and radioactive munitions by the West during the conflicts in Yugoslavia and Iraq. A desire to increase the suffering of civilians and to do irreparable environmental damage shows that the British have no regard whatsoever for the Ukrainian people," it stressed.

The ministry called the British policy "openly cynical," showing "who the real aggressor and warmonger in Ukraine is."

"London must know that it will bear full responsibility for violating the fundamental norms of international law…We will respond to such actions accordingly," it said

The ministry warned that London’s decision will have serious consequences for relations between Russia and Britain and will also "cause repercussions on the international stage," where the initial reaction by multilateral organizations was the "complete rejection of London’s plans."

The ministry also published a comment by Oleg Karpovich, the director of the Institute of Contemporary Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who reminded that depleted uranium shells may affect Ukraine's agriculture.

"Most European countries as well as countries in Africa and the Middle East are critically dependent on Ukrainian agricultural products. It is not difficult to predict the scale of the food crisis that can break out if a significant part of it turns out to be in the zone of radioactive damage," he noted.

Karpovich also questioned the lack of reaction on behalf of the European importers of Ukrainian grain.

"The lack of reaction to the London-Kyiv adventure provokes a thought: Isn't this story part of a larger plan that Washington is behind? As we remember, a year ago, (US President) Joe Biden declared that American agricultural producers are ready to replace Ukrainian products on world markets with their own," he said.

In a separate comment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the entire world will experience the consequences of Britain’s decision.

She emphasized that today, there are no means able to localize the damage from the use of such ammunition, which is both toxic and radioactive.

The Russian Embassy in the UK said London "made a choice in favor of causing maximum damage to the population of the front-line regions."

"Ukraine for the UK is nothing more than a testing ground for confrontation with our country. We warn London against crossing another dangerous line in a maniacal desire to achieve the goal of 'defeating of Russia'," the embassy said.

The Russian mission to the UN in Geneva in its own statement said that London does not leave Kyiv chances for a political and diplomatic settlement.

The mission said the use of depleted uranium shells is "a norm" for Britain, and because of that, it voted against a UN resolution on the consequences of weapons and ammunition laced with depleted uranium.

The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was adopted in 1996 and in 1997 proposals to list weapons containing depleted uranium as types of weapons of mass destruction having indiscriminate effects and causing excessive damage or unnecessary suffering.

The UN body also urged all states to curb the production and proliferation of such weapons.

The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons has many times asked the UN to ban the production and use for military purposes of weapons containing depleted uranium. France and Great Britain consistently oppose the initiative.

The US used depleted uranium shells in Iraq and also in the former Yugoslavia. In the latter, the use of uranium in ammunition subsequently led to a major scandal -- diseases and deaths of military personnel from units that used depleted uranium shells. This phenomenon was called the "Balkan syndrome."

Former military personnel who suffered from various forms of cancer blamed depleted uranium for the state of their health.