Sep 22 , 2023
The US and its NATO allies have provided a large number of weapon systems and armored vehicles, many of them outdated, to the Kiev regime to keep the Ukrainian conflict going.
The generous military assistance provided by the UK to the regime in Kiev in the months that followed the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2022 might have included armored vehicles riddled with asbestos, a British newspaper has suggested.
According to the media outlet, the UK Ministry of Defense admitted that some 2,699 pieces of military hardware owned by the British Army – including 324 “Challenger 2 tanks, versions of which were sent to Ukraine” – contained “potentially deadly asbestos containing materials.”
UK shadow defense secretary John Healey has described this development as “a serious concern,” complaining that the British Armed Forces “are forced to rely on aging and asbestos-riddled equipment.”
Asbestos-containing materials were used in the 20th century in the production of tanks, planes and ships, the newspaper pointed out.
London has supplied Kiev with a total of fourteen Challenger 2 main battle tanks, but it was not immediately clear whether these particular tanks contained hazardous materials or not.
When damaged or disturbed, asbestos-containing materials may release asbestos fibers into the air, which, when inhaled, can cause severe damage to lungs, with asbestos exposure even being linked to lung cancer.
Since the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict last year, Kiev received generous military supplies from its NATO sponsors in the form of hundreds and even thousands of weapon systems and armored vehicles, many of which can be considered outdated by modern standards.
Latest asbestos-related revelations aside, it remains unclear whether other armored vehicles donated to Kiev by Western powers may be more dangerous to their crews than to the enemy.
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