Russia has confirmed that it has used deadly thermobaric weapons in the Ukraine conflict, the UK Minister of Defence has reported. In a tweet, the British Ministry said the Russian MoD had confirmed it has used the TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine.
There had been speculation recently that thermobaric or vacuum weapons had been used in the two weeks since Vladimir Putin sent Russian' troops into Ukraine. Tonight (Wednesday) shortly after 6pm, the British MoD confirmed the worst, and shared a clip of how the weapons work.
In a tweet, it said: "The 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. Watch the video... for more information about this weapon and its devastating impact."
The MoD did not specify where the weapons had been used, or what damage they had caused on Ukrainian soil.
Michelle Bentley, Royal Holloway University of London, explained how thermobaric weapons work last week: "Vacuum bombs, or thermobaric weapons, work in two stages. Stage one releases a large cloud of combustible material, usually fuel or small metal particles such as aluminium.
"Stage two triggers an explosion that ignites this material to create a massive fireball and a shock wave. The effect is like that caused in accidental dust explosions in coal mines or flour mills, where the flammable particles become so dispersed that when they catch fire they generate a huge blast."
They are also known as vacuum bombs because "the explosion sucks up all the oxygen around the device", she added, which means victims close to the explosion are unable to breathe, and die of asphyxiation.
Ms Bentley adds: "The pressure from the explosion can essentially crush a person to death and cause major internal damage to the body’s organs, such as rupturing the lungs. The effects of thermobaric weapons are much more intense and destructive than a more conventional bomb.
As well as the explosions lasting longer, they are at a much higher temperature, which can leave vast areas of land devasted and buildings destroyed.
Thermobaric weapons are not seen as very effective against heavily armoured targets, so we wouldn’t expect them to be used on targets such as tanks. They are suited to taking out infrastructure, troops and civilians.
Russia’s use of thermobaric weapons raises serious legal concerns. Markarova has said that the alleged attack would violate the terms of the Geneva conventions. Meanwhile, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki has noted that if the allegations are true – as well as allegations Russia used cluster bombs, another controversial weapon – this would potentially be considered an international war crime.
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