London will supply depleted uranium armor-piercing anti-tank munitions to Kiev, a revelation that has unleashed Moscow's wrath and inflamed international tensions.
The British government's decision was announced by British Deputy Defense Minister Annabel Goldie at a minor hearing in the House of Lords on Monday and went completely unnoticed until it hit the Ukrainian media.
However, she did not escape Vladimir Putin, who speaking alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow, promised that Russia "will react" if London really were to send this type of supplies.
While according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, with the declarations of the United Kingdom, the nuclear confrontation is now "one step away".
ANSA agency
The Charm 1 and Charm 3 anti-tank grenades with uranium - World
Armor-piercing weapons containing depleted uranium - whether bombs or grenades for tanks - remain in possession of various countries around the world, despite the controversy over the legality of their use in past war scenarios
The subject of the tensions are the Charm 1 and Charm 3 shells, used as ammunition for the 120 mm cannons mounted on some British army tanks, promised to Kiev by the government of Rishi Sunak.
Replying to a question presented by the ninety-year-old Lord Hylton, Baroness Goldie dryly claimed that "together with a squadron of Challenger 2 heavy combat tanks, we will also send the relevant ammunition: including armor-piercing shells that contain depleted uranium", for some time at the center of the controversy over the legality of their use in past war scenarios, from the former Yugoslavia to Iraq.
When asked about the matter, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened that if Britain supplies such munitions, "there is no doubt it will end badly"
In any case "I wouldn't be surprised by anything, because they have completely lost their sense of direction regarding their actions and how they undermine strategic stability around the world".
"They are trying to fight this conflict not only in theory down to the last Ukrainian, but also in practice: the West is starting to use weapons with nuclear elements", was instead Putin's comment, which made it clear that Moscow will not stand by and watch.
ANSA agency
Ukraine, Moscow: 'Ukrainian drone attack on an oil pumping station' - World
Drones from Kiev have attacked a Russian oil pumping station near the border with Ukraine.
New tension in the skies, Russian fighter intercepts two US bombers over the Baltic.
Anti-Kremlin group claims Rostov fire.
Surprise visit to Ukraine by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida
The depleted uranium weapons are only the latest chapter in an endless tension between the Kremlin and the West, while in Ukraine the war sees no respite.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his readiness to recover "up to the last metre" of his country, and he demonstrated this by once again attacking Russian military targets in Crimea: on Monday evening, an explosion in the city of Dzhankoi, on the occupied Ukrainian peninsula, destroyed Russian cruise missiles destined for the Black Sea Fleet, according to Kiev which however has not claimed any operations.
But for the Moscow media, it was obviously Ukrainian drones that hit the city, which is the most important railway hub for Russian supplies to Crimea.
The conflict then spilled over into Russia, where Ukrainian forces droned an oil pumping station in the Bryansk region, causing no casualties, according to Governor Alexander Bogomaz.
And after the incident between the American drone and Russian fighter jets over the Black Sea, tensions have returned to the skies over the Baltic as well, where a Sukhoi jet was flown up to identify and intercept two US B-52H bombers "directed towards the Russian border", according to the military in Moscow.
Furthermore, on the eve of what could be the spring counter-offensive, the United States is accelerating deliveries of Abrams tanks and air defense systems to Kiev.
This was confirmed by the Pentagon after media leaks, according to which Washington will opt for the
Ukraine, agreement with the IMF on a 15.6 billion aid plan
The staff of the International Monetary Fund has reached an agreement with Ukraine for a 15.6 billion dollar aid plan.
The agreement must now be approved by the IMF board which should examine it in the coming weeks.
It is the first time that the IMF has granted funding to a country at war in its 77 years of life.
The agreement provides that Kiev undertakes to take measures to strengthen budgetary, price and financial stability.
Ukraine's economy collapsed by 30% last year, leaving Kiev dependent on international aid.
The plan should "support a gradual economic recovery by creating - says the Fund - the conditions for long-term growth in a context of reconstruction of the country after the conflict" and while Kiev is on the "road to
