Russia boasts of having killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers with “vacuum bomb”

The destruction caused by a thermobaric weapon is caused by the explosion wave it creates and also by the vacuum resulting from the fuel-air mixture that sucks in oxygen to sustain the detonation. The force of such an explosion is enough to collapse buildings and rupture organs

Russia says it killed large numbers of Ukrainian soldiers with a so-called “vacuum bomb” – thermobaric weapon, a claim Ukraine considers absurd.

The deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces told Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a meeting that around 300 soldiers were killed “as a result of a precision strike by an aerial munition”, according to the Ministry of Russian Defense.

Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told CNN that the claims were “absolute nonsense and propaganda,” as was Russian information about the deaths of 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. last week.

CNN was unable to independently verify the incident.

Colonel General Alexei Kim did not indicate the location of the attack, but described it as the “deployment point of the nationalist ‘Kraken’ formation”, according to the ministry, referring to a special unit of Ukraine’s Defense Secret Service .

Kim said a “volumetric detonation bomb” was used in the airstrike, RIA Novosti reported on Saturday.

Volumetric weapons are also known as vacuum bombs, thermobaric weapons or fuel-air explosives.

The destruction caused by a thermobaric weapon is caused by the blast wave it creates and also by the vacuum resulting from the fuel-air mixture that sucks in oxygen to sustain detonation, according to the Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare at the US Military Academy at West Point .

The force of such an explosion is enough to collapse buildings and rupture organs. Walls or even basements do not offer protection, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, an American organization based in Washington, DC.

Details of the Russian air strike emerged during a meeting at the headquarters of the Joint Group of Forces, where Shoigu heard from commanders about the current situation in the “special military operation zone”, according to the ministry, an expression used by Russia to designate its war in Ukraine.

Kim also did not mention when the attack was carried out, but said that “just last week, as a result of the effective work of the reconnaissance and attack systems, three American Patriots, a Vampire multiple rocket launcher, more than 10 foreign-made artillery and fuel and ammunition depots”, according to the ministry.

Kim also told Shoigu during the meeting that Ukraine is “suffering significant losses, both in equipment and manpower, following the use of high-precision weapons and attack drones.”