Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. has revealed that Russia used thermobaric bomb, also known as a “vacuum bomb” and the “Father of All Bombs,” on Ukraine.
The use of the weapon of mass destruction was also confirmed by right activists. “Russian forces appeared to have used widely banned cluster munitions,” according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, with Amnesty accusing them of hitting a preschool in north-eastern Ukraine while civilians took shelter inside.
After meeting with members of the US Congress, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, informed reporters that Russia used thermobaric weapon known as a vacuum bomb in its invasion of her nation.
Ms Markarova stated, “They utilized the vacuum bomb today.”
“The destruction that Russia is attempting to wreak on Ukraine is massive.”
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Indeed this is a horrific weapon that eats through the oxygen in its blast radius.
Early Saturday afternoon, CNN reported that one of its teams had observed and filmed a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border.
The video, which CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen published on Twitter, shows a TOS-1 heavy flamethrower fitted on a T-72 tank chassis that can fire thermobaric rockets.
Pleitgen said the footage was taken south of Belgorod, which is around 45 miles south of Kharkiv, Ukraine.
In another never seen before twitter video, a massive thermobaric blast was recorded in Cherkasy Oblast region in Ukraine. See video below;
What is a thermobaric bomb and how do they function?
It has a Thermobaric weapon in it. This uses O2 to create a high-temperature, high-pressure blast front – a fuel-air explosive with a longer duration than standard HE.
The thermobaric bomb is a two-stage munition commonly known as an aerosol bomb or fuel air explosive.
The first-stage charge disperses an aerosol made up of extremely thin particles, ranging from carbon-based fuel to microscopic metal particles. A second charge ignites the cloud, resulting in a fireball, a massive shock wave, and a vacuum as it absorbs all of the oxygen in the area.
The explosion wave is capable of vaporizing human bodies and can endure far longer than a conventional explosive.
How does thermobaric bomb blast affect the body?
The [blast] kill mechanism is unique and unpleasant when used against living targets. As with most chemical agents, what kills people is the pressure wave and, more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum] to those caught in the cloud.
“The consequences of an FAE explosion within tight confines is enormous,” according to a US Central Intelligence Agency research. Those who are close to the igniting point are completely destroyed. Burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, punctured lungs and internal organs, and potentially blindness are among the many internal, hence invisible traumas that those on the fringe are likely to experience.”
According to another Defense Intelligence Agency paper, “shock and pressure waves inflict negligible harm to brain tissue.” It’s likely that victims of FAEs aren’t knocked out by the blast, but instead suffer for seconds or minutes while they suffocate. The impact of thermobaric bombs on human body is absolutely horrible.
Conclusion
Concerns over Russia’s use of thermobaric bombs have grown when the Ukrainian envoy to the US said that a vacuum bomb – another moniker for the weapon – was used during the invasion.
Although film from Ukraine shows thermobaric rocket launchers on Russia’s TOS-1 vehicles, the employment of such weapons, which suck oxygen from the surrounding air to cause a high-temperature explosion, has yet to be reliably confirmed.
Read more on thermobaric bomb HERE.
