Still, according to Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, the Russians used this weapon on Ukrainian soil. “They used the vacuum bomb today, which is actually banned by the Geneva Convention,” she said on February 28th. Ukrainian authorities and several local media outlets also noted the existence of TOS-1A Solntsepek rocket-propelled grenade launchers designed to launch these missiles.
Evaporation of bodies
How can thermobaric weapons be so dangerous? They combine both thermal power and a chemical reaction that produces very powerful explosions. Warheads contain flammable dust and liquid. Upon contact with air, they ignite and produce an explosion several hundred meters away, sucking and burning oxygen everywhere. Human bodies can be evaporated by burning oxygen in seconds. The temperature can rise to 3,000 degrees during the explosion. In this way, the thermobaric bomb will be the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the world, capable of inflicting colossal human casualties and material damage.
“war crime”
So far, Russia has not confirmed the use of these weapons, even if they were filmed aboard a convoy on Ukrainian soil. Several NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused Russia of “war crimes” for using these “vacuum bombs.”