Putin ‘unleashes horrifying VACUUM BOMBS in Ukraine’ as video shows huge mushroom cloud after strike
RUSSIA'S terrifying "vacuum bombs" that can explode enemy troops' lungs have been deployed near Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, in the latest indication that Vladimir Putin is escalating the conflict.
A vacuum bomb was reportedly dropped on an oil depot, local officials have claimed. The deadly weapons are banned under the Geneva Convention.
On Tuesday morning, a huge blast was heard in the Sumy region in north-east Ukraine amid claims Russia has begun using vacuum bombing, one of the deadliest non-nuclear weapons deployed on the modern battlefield.
Earlier, Ukrainians claimed to have found parts of a vacuum bomb at Okhtyrka, 42 miles south of Sumy.
The city's mayor Pavel Kuzmenko claimed in a video message that a vacuum bomb had been dropped on an oil depot.
"A vacuum bomb has been dropped on an oil storage depot, containers with oil have been torn off," he said.
"The enemy vilely uses vacuum bombs banned by the Geneva Convention."
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, has claimed that Russia used a vacuum bomb, also known as a thermobaric weapon, on Monday in Okhtyrka.
The bomb destroyed a Ukrainian army base, killing 70 soldiers, Sumy region administrative chief Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said on his Telegram channel.
Images showed a building gutted in the blast.
The enemy vilely uses vacuum bombs banned by the Geneva Convention
Pavel Kuzmenko
Some Ukrainian media sources have claimed that today's huge blast near Kharkiv was also a vacuum bomb, but this wasn't immediately confirmed.
If Putin's forces have used vacuum bombs, this would potentially be a war crime, according to White House spokesperson Jen Psaki.
Russia has already been accused of war crimes after allegedly using cluster bombs on civilian targets in Kharkiv.
Thermobaric weapons, formerly known as fuel-air explosives, were originally developed by the Nazis in World War Two, and first used by the US in Vietnam.
They spread fine carbon metal particles into the air before igniting them.
Due to the wide area of the ignited particles, the blast sucks in oxygen from the surrounding area, which is why it is called a vacuum bomb.
The bombs cause an enormous explosion, first by "sucking in" before a blast out. The blasts normally bring a shockwave with them, causing enormous damage.
It comes as a frustrated Putin has approved a three-fold increase in troop numbers in Ukraine following a request from his defence minister Sergei Shoigu, as reported by a Telegram channel seen as close to Russian security sources.
The war, which Putin is reported to have believed would be over in a matter of days, is allegedly costing Russia some $20 billion (£14.9bn) a day.
Putin is reported to have rejected a request to use strategic air missions.
It came after earlier in the day Mayor Pavlo Kuzmenko of Okhtyrka - where just days ago a nursery was blitzed - also accused Putin of using the weapons.
Ukraine's embassy in Lithuania also posted a video of the aftermath of an attack using one of the weapons.
They said the Russian "war criminals used vacuum bombs to hit civilians and oil storage facilities in Ochtyrka, Sumy region".
It comes as Western officials have expressed concern Russia could deploy the devastating weapon amid signs that its advance had been slower than planned in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance.
It comes as...
- Russia has a 40-mile column bearing down on Kyiv as the city endured another night of airstrikes
- Putin is believed to unleashed terrifying "vacuum bombs" which can blow out people's lungs
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of war crimes over the attacks of Kharkiv
- Zelenskyy also gave Boris Johnson a "shopping list" of arms needed to defeat Russian forces
- Brits are signing up in their droves to join up in Ukraine and fight against Putin
- The Klitschko brothers are on a "kill list" of leading Ukrainians the Russians want dead
- Brave civilians unleashed a molotov cocktail attack on a Russian tank as they fight back
- At least 16 children have been killed - including a little girl, 6, as her docs told reporters 'show this to Putin'
- Vladimir Putin shed his geeky image with the help of steroids and extensive plastic surgery to become the brute he is today
- The Russian tyrant has amassed 6,000 nuclear weapons as he puts his arsenal on high alert
One official said: "My fear would be that if they don't meet their timescale and objectives, they would be indiscriminate in their use of violence."
An International Criminal Court prosecutor is to open a probe into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine in the wake of civilian slaughter.
Defence and national security commentator Charlie Gao said: "The Buratino and Solntsepek are very useful weapons for a military that might be going into urban combat with little regard for collateral damage."
The deployment of the TOS-1 comes as Ukrainian forces have repulsed and initial Russian attempt to seize the capital Kyiv have so-far not been successful.
Sources in Ukraine have previously shared videos of convoys of TOSs heading for the border.
Sharing screengrabs from a TikTok video of the military convoy, PhD student at the Department of War Studies at King's College London Rob Lee wrote: "Thermobaric troops on the move."
TOS in Russian stands for ";heavy flame thrower".
Originally created as a long-range alternative to the handheld flamethrower, the TOS-1 and TOS-1A are designed to kill or crush any soft target in their path.
And the Buratino - a Russian equivalent of Pinnochio - is unique to Russia's military.
The TOS-1's prominent launch unit - like a long nose - earned it the nickname Pinocchio.
The self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) has already deployed by Moscow's generals in conflicts including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, and Syria.
Similar to the enormous 240mm 2S4 self-propelled mortar, the TOS-1 is designed to obliterate heavily-fortified positions.
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Further from the blast zone, pressure can break bones, dislocate eyes, cause internal haemorrhaging, and rupture eardrums, bowels, and other internal organs.
They can also suck the oxygen out of lungs, causing them to collapse, suffocating their victims to death.
FAEs were first used by the United States in the Vietnam War when generals claimed napalm wasn't destructive enough.
While napalm weapons spread a sticky, flaming liquid over a wide area, FAEs cause the air itself to detonate.
As well as in Vietnam, the US later deployed FAEs in the mountains of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan, as they tried to hunt down Osama bin Laden in the network of caves.
They were spotted in a rebel training area in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine as early as 2015, while the Ukrainian government claims they were used in the aerial bombardment that destroyed Donetsk International Airport in January of that year.
The TOS-1A "Solntsepek" (Sunshine), is an upgrade of the TOS-1 designed to use longer-range rockets which can hit targets up to 6km away.
It also features more armour on the launcher.
Elsewhere, pictures show burnt out convoy of Russian trucks, marked with their Z identification number, burnt out after coming under attack.
The vehicles were seen near Kherson in the South of Ukraine.
The bizarre-looking tanks feature a huge oblong-shaped rack on top, loaded with dozens of lethal incendiary or thermobaric rockets.
And speaking on GMB earlier, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, former NATO deputy supreme commander, also accused Russia of using devastating vacuum bombs.
He said: "They're now into a bitter fight for the cities. This now turns to a very bitter different phase of the war.
"It must be exposed to the Russians. They're just getting propaganda, they need to be told the truth, so that they understand what's being done in their name.
"They're using thermobaric weapons - it creates a fuel-air mixture, it sucks the oxygen out of the air around it, it creates a shockwave, it's highly destructive, affects anyone sheltering in cellars, its incredibly disruptive, that's why it's banned.
"In terms of humane ways of fighting the war, they're out on a different scale"
Meanwhile, air raid sirens tonight rang out over the capital, warning civilians to head to safety ahead of another night of Russian shelling.
A city-wide curfew has also been introduced in the capital, while authorities hunt down "sabotage and reconnaissance groups."
And the PM has also promised to crack down on Russian oligarchs funneling dirty money through the UK.
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And Russia’s central bank was frozen, and banned from the German SWIFT system.
Ursula von der Leyen said the measures would “cripple Putin’s ability to finance his war machine.