Depleted uranium: The forgotten legacy of the Kosovo War
Posted: 14th November 2025
DW (Deutsche Welle)– November 7, 2025 – Depleted uranium: The forgotten legacy of the Kosovo War
In 1999, NATO used uranium ammunition during the Kosovo War. Numerous soldiers subsequently developed cancer, and some were awarded compensation. In Kosovo, the soil remains poisonous to this day.
“I can vividly remember the last day,” said Emerico Maria Laccetti, former colonel of the military division of Italian Red Cross.
During the Kosovo War in 1999, he was stationed in Albania, just a few hundred meters from the border with Kosovo. He was the commander of a field hospital for refugees from the province, which at the time belonged to Serbia.
“We stood on containers and watched the bombings,” he said. “It was like a perverse New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Even at a distance, you could feel the air pressure, the shock waves going through your body. But no, we were not told about the specific dangers of the weapons being used.”
… In response to questions about the health risks posed by DU ammunition, NATO only gave a written statement. “We take health and environmental issues very seriously,” it said.
In 2001, a committee on DU concluded that the use of DU ammunition in Kosovo “did not cause any lasting health risk to the population,” citing independent findings.
NATO refers to UN reports from 2014. “This is scientific evidence; it was reliable, and we stand by it,” the military alliance said in a statement.
However, this contradicts the rulings of Italian courts on lawsuits filed by approximately 500 Kosovo War veterans who developed cancer after coming into contact with depleted uranium ammunition. …