Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out cluster and vacuum bomb attacks as part of a horrific offensive, with the country’s president claiming Vladimir Putin’s actions constitute war crimes.
But what are vacuum bombs, how do they work, and what happens to innocent civilians caught behind them?
Vacuum bombs – also known as thermobaric weapons – are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed and banned by the Geneva Conventions.
The powerful explosive weapons that use the atmosphere itself as part of the explosion are capable of evaporating bodies, crushing internal organs and turning cities into rubble, causing a huge loss of life.
There is no official confirmation that vacuum bombs were used in the conflict in Ukraine, but footage from the country shows thermobaric missile launchers of Russian TOS-1 vehicles.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the Us accused Putin’s forces of using a banned thermobaric bomb over the capital Kiev overnight.
Footage has also emerged of the use of cluster bombs, which are banned by an international treaty called the Cluster Munitions Convention (CCM).
Cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon that disperses “bombs” in an area. The Russians are now using banned cluster munitions against civilian areas in Kharkiv, experts and activists have warned.
Cluster munitions were also supposed to destroy a school in Ohtirka, activist group Amnesty reported, in which three people, including a child, were killed.
Thermobaric explosives apply the principles underlying random explosions of unlimited clouds of steam, just like those that tormented British flour mills in the 19th century. Initially, the weapon releases an aerosol consisting of very fine particles, such as metal, flammable powders or chemical droplets. A source of ignition then ignites the particle cloud and their rapid combustion causes an explosion and vacuum in the surrounding area
Ukraine has accused the Russians of carrying out cluster and vacuum bomb attacks as part of a horrific offensive, with the country’s president claiming Vladimir Putin’s actions constitute war crimes
The science behind vacuum bombs
Thermobaric weapons – also known as vacuum bombs – are a high-powered explosive that uses the atmosphere itself as part of the explosion. They are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed.
The bomb works by using oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high temperature explosion, making it much more lethal than a conventional weapon.
A thermobaric bomb dropped by the Us on the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.
Thermobaric weapons were developed by both the US and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. In September 2007, Russia detonated the largest thermobaric weapon ever made, creating an explosion equivalent to 39.9 tons.
Last week, it emerged that Russia could use the weapons if their attack in Ukraine fades. One Western official said: “I’m afraid if they don’t meet their schedule and targets, they will be indiscriminate in their use of violence.
“They do not adhere to the same principles of necessity, proportionality and the rule of law that Western powers do.”
Thermobaric weapons were developed by both the US and the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
In September 2007, Russia detonated the largest thermobaric weapon ever made, creating an explosion equivalent to 39.9 tons.
The American version of the weapon is reportedly worth more than $16 million each.
A vacuum bomb or thermobaric weapon sucks oxygen out of the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, usually producing an explosive wave of significantly longer duration than that of a conventional explosive and capable of evaporating human bodies.
The bomb works by using oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high temperature explosion, making it much more lethal than a conventional weapon.
Thermobaric explosives apply the principles underlying random explosions of unlimited clouds of steam, just like those that tormented British flour mills in the 19th century.
Initially, the weapon releases an aerosol consisting of very fine particles, such as metal, flammable powders or chemical droplets.
According to the Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, this cloud flows around objects and in cavities and structures and can penetrate small openings, such as openings in buildings, bunkers and engine compartments of armored vehicles.
Then a source of ignition ignites the cloud of particles, and their rapid burning causes an explosion and vacuum in the vicinity.
Russia is reportedly already using a thermobaric missile system called the TOS-1 Buratino, also called a flamethrower.
Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told reporters after a meeting with members of the U.S. Congress that Russia had used a vacuum bomb.
A thermobaric bomb dropped by the US on the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground
A thermobaric bomb explodes during the 2016 Caucasus strategic exercises at The Opook Polygon in Russia’s Southern Military District
Thermobaric weapons were developed by both the US and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Here, an explosion of a thermobaric bomb during the 2016 Caucasus strategic exercises at The Opook Polygon in Russia’s Southern Military District
Thermobaric explosives apply the principles underlying random explosions of unlimited clouds of steam, just like those that tormented British flour mills in the 19th century. Pictured is a heavy ground-to-ground missile system with thermobaric weapons in an undisclosed location
“Today they used the vacuum bomb,” Markarova said after a meeting with lawmakers. “The devastation Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is great.”
There has been no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons were used in the conflict in Ukraine, although CNN reported that one of his teams spotted a Russian thermobaric missile system near the Ukrainian border.
Russia is reportedly already using a thermobaric missile system called the TOS-1 Buratino, also called a flamethrower.
A thermobaric bomb dropped by the Us on the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.
The TOS-1 Buratino jet liner, pictured here in June 2020 during moscow’s Victory Day military parade, is believed to have been deployed in Ukraine
On September 11, 2007, Russia announced to the world that it had successfully tested the world’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb. FOAB, according to RT, is a thermobaric bomb
What do vacuum bombs do to the human body?
According to the Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, vacuum bombs affect organs where there is a tissue interface of varying density, such as the lungs, intestines and inner ear.
“It primarily affects the pulmonary, cardiovascular, auditory, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems,” it says.
“General treatment is based on the respiratory tract; assessment of breathing and circulation in conjunction with oxygen therapy. Prophylactic antibiotics and tetanus vaccine should be considered.
With regard to the pulmonary system, when the blast wave strikes, the wave of stress causes damage, especially in the lobes, along the ribs on the side of the blast, mediastinum and alveoli, and can tear the more rigid bronchiols.
Alveoli, if burst, release fluid into the lungs, which can lead to complete filling or “shock lung” or “blasted lung”.
The cardiovascular system can be affected by an air embolism in the heart or coronary arteries or by diffuse myocardial damage – muscle tissue of the heart.
As for hearing impairment, the eardrum is torn, with mild hearing loss. In more severe cases, the membrane can break down and the bones (three bones in the middle ear) displace, which requires surgical intervention.
In the worst cases, the inner ear is damaged, causing “sensory-neural” deafness and debilitating pain, nausea and balance problems.
Източник: Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health
General Sir Richard Barrons, former head of the UK Joint Forces Command, said on Sunday it remained unclear whether Putin would order his troops to use the weapons.
He added that the consequences would be devastating.
“The release of thermobaric weapons and the mass concentrated use of heavy artillery will cause the indiscriminate, unnecessary and unjustified slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
‘The thing we never knew – and no one knows – is the intent behind it because no one understands what’s in Putin’s mind.
Vacuum bombs can have devastating effects for anyone nearby when they are detonated.
Those on the periphery are likely to experience many internal, invisible injuries, including crushed organs, severe concussions and possibly blindness.
According to the Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, they affect organs where there is a tissue interface of varying density, such as the lungs, intestines and inner ear.
“It primarily affects the pulmonary, cardiovascular, auditory, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems,” it says.
“General treatment is based on the respiratory tract; assessment of breathing and circulation in conjunction with oxygen therapy. Prophylactic antibiotics and tetanus vaccine should be considered.
With regard to the pulmonary system, when the blast wave strikes, the wave of stress causes damage, especially in the lobes, along the ribs on the side of the blast, mediastinum and alveoli, and can tear the more rigid bronchiols.
Alveoli, if burst, release fluid into the lungs, which can lead to complete filling or “shock lung” or “blasted lung”.
The cardiovascular system can be affected by an air embolism in the heart or coronary arteries or by diffuse myocardial damage – muscle tissue of the heart.
As for hearing impairment, the eardrum is torn, with mild hearing loss. In more severe cases, the membrane can break down and the bones (three bones in the middle ear) displace, which requires surgical intervention.
In the worst cases, the inner ear is damaged, causing “sensory-neural” deafness and debilitating pain, nausea and balance problems.