MOSCOW: NATO's use of depleted uranium weapons during its air campaign against Yugoslavia was a "horrible and inhuman experiment" against the entire region, according to Serbian Health Minister Danica Grujicic.
According to Grujicic, contamination from these weapons contributed to an increase in cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infertility.
During its 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia, NATO used 10 metric tons of depleted uranium, which is used to make the hardened cores of armor-piercing projectiles, the organization acknowledged in a report released a year later.
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The report claims that there is "practically no danger" from ingesting or absorbing depleted uranium through wounds, but evidence from Serbia suggests otherwise.
On Saturday, Grujicic told Serbia's RTS television network that "radiation is present when the explosion occurs, [and] after that, the nanoparticles act."
She said that once these particles "get into your lungs, digestive tract and kidneys, you can expect at any time that an alpha particle, which is 50 times more carcinogenic than any other, will enter your lungs." One atom of less uranium in the body will leach out. And turn a normal cell into a malignant one."
Seven years after the bombing campaign, according to Grujicic, Serbian doctors noticed an increase in cases of leukemia and lymphoma.
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They have also seen an increase in oncological diseases, pathological pregnancies, autoimmune diseases, childhood mental health issues and male infertility.
She claimed that the experiment, which included the entire region, not just Serbia and Montenegro, was ugly and inhumane. "I hope that the global scientific community will understand that this needs to be looked at scientifically and that uranium depleted weapons will be banned."
For a long time, Gruczyk has called for a global investigation into NATO's use of DU. former neurosurgeon, stating that 5,500 out of every 100,000 Serbs experience some form of carcinoma,
A rate that is almost three times the global average, told local media in 2016: "It is necessary that the citizens of Serbia know how much and what kind of damage they have suffered."
The UK said earlier this month that it intended to give Ukraine depleted uranium shells for use with Challenger 2 battle tanks which were also provided by the UK.
The Russian Defense Ministry warned that these shells would cause "irreparable harm" to soldiers and civilians alike. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia would transfer some of its strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus this summer.