Calls Russia Trying To Cause Major Destruction, Ukrainian Ambassador: They Use Vacuum Bombs

Buildings in Ukraine destroyed by the Russian invasion. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Human rights groups and Ukraine's ambassador to the United States on Monday accused Russia of attacking Ukraine with cluster bombs and vacuum bombs, weapons that have been condemned by various international organizations.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said Russian forces appeared to have used the widely banned cluster munitions or cluster munitions, with Amnesty accusing them of attacking a preschool in northeastern Ukraine while civilians were taking refuge inside.

Meanwhile, Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, told reporters after meeting members of the US Congress that Russia had used thermobaric weapons, known as vacuum bombs, in its invasion of the country.

"They used vacuum bombs today. The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is enormous", Markarova said after a meeting with lawmakers, reported Reuters on March 1.

Markarova further said that Ukraine is working actively with the Biden Administration and Congress to get more weapons and tougher sanctions.

"They have to pay, they have to pay a heavy price", he told reporters after leaving the meeting.

Vacuum bombs, or thermobaric weapons, suck oxygen from the surrounding air to produce a high-temperature explosion, typically producing a blast wave with a much longer duration than conventional explosions and capable of vaporizing the human body.

There has been no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons have been used in the conflict in Ukraine. CNN reported that one of its teams had spotted a Russian thermobaric double rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border on Saturday afternoon.

Separately, White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, said she had seen the reports but had no confirmation that Russia had used such weapons.

"If that's true, it's a potential war crime", he told a news conference, noting any international organization would assess that and President Joe Biden's Administration "would look to be part of that conversation."

The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment regarding the alleged use of cluster and vacuum bombs.

To note, Amnesty International said international humanitarian law prohibits the indiscriminate use of weapons such as cluster munitions. Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians is a war crime.