Russia says it killed almost 300 Ukrainian soldiers with a thermobaric bomb, which Ukraine calls nonsense. The Russian army claims to have killed a large number of Ukrainian soldiers using a thermobaric weapon, also known as a "vacuum bomb," a strong munition that draws oxygen from the surrounding environment to sustain an explosion, CNN reported on Saturday.
According to CNN, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed
Forces informed Russian Defence Minister Seigei Shoigu during a meeting that up
to 300 servicemen had been killed "as a result of an accurate strike by an
aerial munition," Russia's Defence Ministry announced on Saturday.
It is known that Russia wanted to use tactical nuclear bombs in Ukraine but was
prevented from using it. This time Russis’s claims is for thermobaric one which
is less destructive but very effective one.
There is
no international instrument that directly addresses the legality of possessing
or using thermobaric weapons. Several
international treaties prohibit or restrict weapons that emit asphyxiating or
toxic gases, poison or poisoned weapons, chemical weapons, and weapons
principally intended to be incendiary. However, thermobaric weapons are
primarily designed for explosions and are not particularly covered or
prohibited from using these instruments. The fundamental customary law norms of
international humanitarian law that govern the legality of all weapons,
including thermobaric weapons, forbid causing unnecessary injury and suffering,
as well as the use of indiscriminate weapons. Thermobaric weapons cause
significant suffering. However,
they will not be declared illegal just because of this effect.
