In an earlier ALN piece, โIs Putin Deploying Brutal Thermobaric Flame Throwing Rocket Launchers to Ukraine?,' we noted that there were reports that โRussian troops are using thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) weapons which could include the fearsome TOS-1 โBlazing Sun' multiple rocket launcher.โ
โThermobaric weapons, also known as vacuum bombs, which suck up oxygen at ground level, creating a partial vacuum suffocating those in the blast zone, are also capable of vaporizing human bodies and crushing internal organs.โ
ALN added that there were reports that TOS-1s,ย also known as โBuratino,' had been seen heading for the Ukrainian border,ย even providing a tweet of a video of the weaponsย on trucks en route to Ukraine.
Still, some pushed back, saying that despite the reports, there was no hard evidence the Russian had used them in combat. That point is now moot asย Russia has admitted to using thermobaric bombs in its attacks on Ukraine, according to a tweet from the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Russian MoD has confirmed the use of the TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine. The TOS-1A uses thermobaric rockets, creating incendiary and blast effects.
ย In a video accompanying the tweet, the MoD said:
The impact of the TOS-1A is devastating. It can destroy infrastructure, and cause significant damage to internal organs and flash burns, resulting in death to those exposed.
Despite the Russian admission, it still isn't clear how these devastating weapons โ which are illegal when used against civiliansโare currently being used in the war.
As Forbesย notes:
The use of thermobaric weapons is not banned but is heavily regulatedย underย international law. Use against civilians, or military targets that could endanger the civilian population, is banned under the Geneva Convention. It's believedย Russia used thermobaric weaponsย in its campaign against the Chechen capital Grozny in late 1999 and early 2000, and also in Syria. Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region have also been accused of using thermobaric weapons since declaring independence from Ukraine in 2014.
1 Comment
How about Ukraine play the same game and lob a few rockets over into Russian territory? Give the people there a taste of what Ukraine has been suffering. Unless the West gets involved in the fighting Putin will destroy every city in Ukraine and he doesn’t care how many people he kills in doing that.