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Russia has confirmed the use of thermobaric weapons, or “vacuum” bombs, during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Vacuum bombs disperse an explosive over a large area that uses the surrounding oxygen as fuel when detonated, creating a blast wave that lasts much longer than conventional explosives.
“Influence [TOS-1A] is devastating,” the UK Department of Defense said in a video. “It can destroy infrastructure and cause severe internal damage and sudden burns, leading to the death of those who are exposed.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said she discussed Russia’s use of vacuum bombs with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
“We talked about the weapons that Putin uses, the weapons prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, including cluster bombs and vacuum bombs, which caused great suffering,” Pelosi told reporters.
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Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday afternoon that he sees “no sign” that Russia has used thermobaric weapons in Ukraine.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA – AUG 25, 2021: TOS-1A Solntsepek (Shining Sun) multiple launch rocket launcher of the Russian Army and thermobaric weapons mounted on the chassis of a T-72 tank were spotted during the annual international exhibition of defense equipment ” Army Games. (Photo by Leonid Faerberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, initially told reporters on Feb. 28 after a meeting with Congress that Russian troops had used a vacuum bomb.
“They have to pay, they have to pay a high price,” she said at the time.
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US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on March 2 that Russia had deployed vacuum bombs to Ukraine, accusing Putin of stepping up the “brutality of his campaign against” the country.
“We have seen videos of Russian troops moving extremely lethal weapons into Ukraine,” she said in her speech at the UN. “This includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are prohibited by the Geneva Convention.”
Human Rights Watch explains that vacuum bombs are “prone to indiscriminate use” due to their large blast radius.
“In urban environments, it is very difficult to limit the effects of advanced explosive weapons on combatants, and the nature of advanced explosive weapons makes it almost impossible for civilians to take shelter from their destructive effects,” the organization said in a statement.
According to the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, vacuum bombs, or air-fuel explosives, were developed by the United States in the 1960s for use in Vietnam.
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Russia used vacuum bombs in Chechnya in the 1990s and later during the Syrian civil war.
IDLIB PROVINCE, SYRIA – January 9, 2016: Activists say at least 70 people were killed when four vacuum bombs were dropped by Russian aircraft on the town of Maaret al-Numan; other airstrikes also targeted the towns of Sarakib, Khan Sheikhoun and Maar Dabs in Idlib. (REUTERS/Khalil Ashavi)
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that if Russia used vacuum bombs, “it would potentially be a war crime.”
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has been investigating possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine from 2013 to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.