Italian Red Cross Colonel Emerico Maria Laccetti has told Vecernje Novosti that he had been diagnosed with a "giant lung tumor" upon returning from Kosovo.

According to Laccetti, the tumor was a direct consequence of exposure to ionizing radiation that he experienced there.

Depleted uranium ammunition was used by NATO during its bombing of Serbia, from March until June 1999.

Laccetti left Kosovo and returned to Rome in July 1999. The task of his service was to provide assistance to the population in Kosovo and Metohija. He told the Belgrade daily that he often inhaled dust and particles immediately after an air strike.

Laccetti said he started experiencing breathing problems as early as November of the same year, and was diagnosed with "a giant tumor" a the end of December.

"I was hospitalized on January 1, while a biopsy sample was taken three days later. The diagnosis was a most severe form of neoplasia - non-Hodgkin lymphoma," Laccetti told Vecernje Novosti.

By January 13, the mass closed all functions in his neck and began to press on his heart. After the biopsy, he started chemotherapy and radio therapy, to which he reacted well, with the tumor decreasing by 95 percent.

"Five percent of the tumor remained, and now I am under constant control, because a mass, literally 'round ceramics', has been found in the tumor, the consequence of radiation and high temperatures that develop during depleted uranium missile explosions, which is known to belong to nuclear technology," Laccetti said.

He added that he also has serious problem with his joints and bones. One of his hips has been replaced with a prosthesis, while he is also experiencing problems with his elbows and shoulders. "I may have to have surgery on my other hip as well, and have a prosthesis put in," Laccetti said.

After a long legal battle, a court of Rome in 2009 gave Laccetti the status of a "victim of duty" - while the cause of his health problems was found to have been exposure to ionizing radiation. He received partial compensation only in 2012.

See at: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2018&mm=05&dd=31&nav_id=104288