Ukraine accuses Russia of using vacuum bomb: Thermobaric weapons and how they work

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States has accused Russia of attacking the country with cluster bombs and vacuum bombs.

As per a Reuters report, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said that Russian forces used widely banned cluster munitions.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told reporters after meeting with members of the US Congress that Russia had used a thermobaric weapon, known as a vacuum bomb, in its invasion of her country.

“They used the vacuum bomb today,” Markarova said after a meeting with lawmakers. “…The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large.”

CNN also reported that Russian TOS-1 rocket launchers that are able to fire up to 30 rockets armed with thermobaric warheads had been used in eastern Ukraine.

Let’s take a look at the thermobaric bomb used by the Russian forces against Ukraine and how it works:

What are thermobaric weapons?

A thermobaric weapon, also known as aerosol bomb or vacuum bomb, sucks in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion.

It typically produces a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than that of a conventional explosive and is capable of vaporizing human bodies.

The fuel-air bomb is one of the best-known types of thermobaric weapons.
How do they work

The thermobaric weapon is a two-stage munition.

According to The Guardian, the first-stage charge distributes an aerosol made up of very fine material – from a carbon-based fuel to tiny metal particles.

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A second charge ignites that cloud, creating a fireball, a huge shock wave, and a vacuum as it sucks up all surrounding oxygen.

The blast wave can last for significantly longer than a conventional explosive and is capable of vaporising human bodies.

According to Human Rights Watch report that cited a 1993 study by the US Defence Intelligence Agency, the thermobaric bomb uses the pressure wave and the subsequent vacuum, which ruptures the lungs, to kill its target.

“The [blast] kill mechanism against living targets is unique—and unpleasant. … What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs. … If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as with most chemical agents,” it said.

Such weapons can be used for a variety of purposes and come in different sizes.

Dr Marcus Hellyer, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told The Guardian that the weapons used by Russia in Ukraine could have been air-launched versions.

“What we may see in Ukraine is Russia using them in a ‘bunker-buster’ role to destroy defensive positions. Extremely large, air-launched versions are designed to destroy caves and tunnel complexes,” he said.

When have they been used before

According to The Guardian, Russians and western forces have been using thermobaric weapons since the 1960s. The US used vacuum bombs to eliminated Al-Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan mountains.

Human Rights Watch condemned Russia for reportedly using thermobaric bombs in Chechenya in 1999.
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With inputs from agencies_

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