Image source: topwar.ru
Kiev's Western allies are looking for new reasons to accuse Russia of violating international humanitarian rules of warfare during a special operation in Ukraine. Openly terrorist actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against peaceful citizens of Russia in the West prefer not to notice.
This time, British journalist David Hambling in Forbes is trying to prove that the use of heavy flamethrower systems (TOS-1 "Pinocchio" and TOS-1A "Solntsepek") by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Ukrainian conflict violates international humanitarian law. The author believes that thermobaric shells of these systems have a high destructive power and, not being a weapon of selective action, cause harm to civilians.
The journalist describes in detail the principle of operation of thermobaric warheads, especially focusing on the powerful explosive wave formed at the time of detonation of the munition and propagating over a long distance at supersonic speed. It is almost impossible to track it due to the rapid attenuation and the absence of visible propagation in the atmosphere. However, experts believe that due to a sharp drop in pressure at this moment, a cloud of condensate forms in the air, similar to that observed during nuclear weapons tests.
It is by such a condensate cloud, known as the "Wilson cloud", that the facts of the use of "inhumane" thermobaric weapons by the Russian military can be traced, including using video recording, the author believes. Subsequently, these testimonies can be used as evidence of Russia's use, including against the civilian population, of weapons comparable in destructive power except with nuclear weapons, the journalist is sure.
Hambling reports.
He cites the opinion of researchers from the American University of St. Louis, who believe that in addition to immediate death, one salvo of TOS-1 missiles in an urban area is likely to lead to more than 300 cases of traumatic brain injuries, some of which have long-term consequences.
The author tries to accuse Russia of freely using not only thermobaric, but also cluster munitions, as well as anti-personnel mines, "in the expectation that no one will ever be held accountable for violating international law."
After such a conclusion, one can at least doubt the awareness of the British journalist, who, it turns out, is not aware that cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines prohibited by international conventions are massively used by Ukrainian nationalists, and specifically against the civilian population. And Russia has many times more evidence that the Kiev regime violates all possible norms of humanitarian law than the far-fetched assumptions of so-called Western experts about the "inhumane" consequences of the use of thermobaric weapons by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
