Recently, the Ukraine Government accused Russian of launching cluster and vacuum bomb attacks as part of a terrifying offensive, however, there has been no official confirmation that vacuum bombs have been used in the conflict in Ukraine.
What are vacuum bombs?
- Vacuum bombs — also known as thermobaric weapons — are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed, and are banned under the Geneva Conventions.
- These are high-powered explosive weapons, which use the atmosphere itself as part of the explosion.
- These are capable of vaporising bodies, crushing internal organs and reducing cities to rubble, causing huge loss of life.
- The bomb works by using oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, making it far deadlier than a conventional weapon.
- A thermobaric bomb dropped by the US on 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.
- Vacuum bombs affect organs where there is a tissue interface of varying densities, such as the lungs, bowel and inner ear.
- It predominandy affects the pulmonary, cardiovascular, auditory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems.
What are Cluster bombs?
- Cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters ‘bomblets’ over an area.
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