Newly released footage shows Russian forces striking a Ukrainian town, using what pro-Kremlin sources have claimed is one of the most potent non-nuclear weapons in the world.
On Tuesday morning, videos began circulating on Russian and Ukrainian media of a "vacuum bomb" being dropped on the town of Vovchansk in the country's northeastern Kharkiv Oblast.
Ukrainian news agency InsiderUA posted the video to its Telegram channel, citing Russian military bloggers who said that the bomb was the ODAB-9000, a three-ton glide bomb sometimes referred to as "the father of all bombs."
In the video, the bomb can be seen descending from the top right corner of the screen, exploding in the already derelict city and damaging the surrounding buildings.
A pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel shared the video but said that the munition was the ODAB-3000 thermobaric bomb and that the use of the more powerful explosive was a lie spread by "Rashists," a Ukrainian term used to refer to members and backers of the Russian Armed Forces.
A thermobaric or "vacuum" bomb draws in oxygen to generate intense, high-temperature combustions. According to the International Review of the Red Cross, an international law-focused academic journal produced by the humanitarian organization, the use of thermobaric weapons in built-up, civilian areas could constitute a war crime.
Russian "milbloggers" have continued to share the footage and reiterate claims that the bomb was the ODAB-9000, which one called "the most powerful non-nuclear munition in the world."
"A decision was made to use something awesome in Volchansk: The ODAB-9000 vacuum bomb. The first use during the entire war," another prominent pro-Kremlin channel wrote alongside the video.
"I doubt that any of [them] survived," it added, using a common ethnic slur for Ukrainians.
The Telegram channel for the operational and tactical unit (OTU) of Kharkiv responded to the claims.
"The information about the alleged use of the ODAB-9000 aerial bomb by the Russian occupation forces in Vovchansk is not true," it said before referencing a statement given by Kharkiv OTU spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev.
"For the use of this munition, a suitable carrier is required, which theoretically could be, for example, a Tu-160 strategic bomber, but the movement of such aircraft was not recorded," Sarantsev was quoted as saying. "A smaller weight and power munition was used, the explosion of which was used by propagandists to create a 'spectacular' picture."
Sarantsev said that footage of the strike and claims that the ODAB-9000 caused the explosion was likely intended to demoralize Ukraine's Armed Forces, as well as the local population.
Russia's strike in Vovchansk comes only days after its troops were driven from the town's Volchansky chemical plant by Ukrainian forces. The region has subsequently been subjected to "the maximum range of [Russian] weapons," Sarantsev said on Monday, The Kyiv Independent reported and claimed that the barrage was a form of retribution for the embarrassing territorial loss.
According to Dr. Sidharth Kaushal, Sea Power Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, the footage made it unclear whether the bomb was, in fact, an ODAB-9000 thermobaric weapon or a FAB-9000 aerial bomb, as claimed by X account Crash Report.
However, Kaushal said that the use of vacuum bombs in Ukraine was not uncommon, pointing to Russia's past employment of the TOS-1 and TOS-2, rocket launchers capable of firing thermobaric warheads, as well as the ODAB-1500.
Regardless of the exact model of bomb, the devastating explosion shows the ongoing impact of Moscow's assault on Ukrainian cities.
Precision-guided glide bombs, such as the FAB-1500, have been deployed against the eastern parts of Ukraine with increasing frequency since the conflict began. Ukrainian officials also accused Moscow of employing vacuum bombs during the early period of the invasion.
"Russia is stepping up its air and missile activity both close to the front lines and in rear areas," Kaushal told Newsweek. "Missile strikes on the rear are designed to stress Ukraine's energy grid and deplete interceptor stockpiles ahead of the winter."
Activity close to the front lines, he added, was the result of the Russian Aerospace Forces "taking advantage" of Ukraine being forced to prioritize its air defense allocation. Russia's FAB series glide bombs, which can be launched "from greater (and thus safer) distances, mitigating the risks they face from some ground-based air defence systems," also increased their range.
As a result of these strikes, targeting air bases has become a key priority for Kyiv and forms part of the impetus for their ongoing desire to use Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russian territory.
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