CNN footage from inside Russia shows a TOS-1 heavy flamethrower mounted on a T-72 tank chassis being deployed near Kharkiv, Ukraine.
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- CNN footage shows a TOS-1 heavy flamethrower being deployed near the Ukrainian border.
- The TOS-1 heavy flamethrower is able to shoot thermobaric rockets.
- Thermobaric weapons are capable of vaporizing human bodies and crushing internal organs, say reports.
Footage from inside of Russia appears to show a thermobaric rocket launcher being deployed towards the Ukrainian border, according to
The Guardian.
The video, shared on Twitter by
CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, displays a TOS-1 heavy flamethrower, which can shoot thermobaric rockets mounted on a T-72 tank chassis.
The footage was captured south of Belgorod, Pleitgen said, which is about 45 miles away from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
It can launch two types of warheads — incendiary and fuel-air explosives. The latter, also called vacuum or thermobaric rockets, work by using oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion.
The weapons system is extremely effective against entrenched personnel. The TOS-1A is used to clear out buildings, field fortifications and bunkers,
according to Military-Today.com.
They are considerably more destructive than conventional explosives.
According to
i News, thermobaric weapons can vaporize human bodies and crush internal organs.
Western officials first publicly expressed concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use thermobaric bombs to seize control of Ukraine on Friday,
HuffPost reported.
"My fear would be that if they don't meet the timescales and objectives, they would be indiscriminate in the use of violence," one Western official said, per i News. "They don't adhere to the same principles of necessity and proportionality and the rule of law that Western forces do."
Any unprotected infantry in the area is virtually guaranteed to be killed by this weapon. If the heat and force of the explosion doesn't kill you the blast wave which creates a partial vacuum will.