Ukraine shows pictures of alleged Russian attack with vacuum bombs - and makes demands on NATO

Created: 05/27/2022, 05:40

A Russian TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher in action.

The systems are apparently currently being used by the Russian military in the Donbass.

(Iconic image) © Sergei Ilnitsky/dpa

A governor speaks of erased places because Putin's troops are apparently increasing the pressure on big cities in the east of the country.

The news ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war.

• "Fight like in the Second World War": The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba reminds the current fighting in Donbass of the combat operations in the Second World War.

• Escalated Ukraine conflict

  : Russian troops are targeting major cities in eastern Ukraine.

• In Davos, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba is pushing for rocket launcher systems for his country.

• This

  news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

Update from May 26, 6:00 p.m.:

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has accused the Russian troops of using the TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher again in the ongoing fighting in Donbass.

This armored missile system is to be used by the Russian troops for the deployment of so-called vacuum bombs.

"Russian TOS-1A are bombing Ukrainian positions near the town of Novomyhailvka in the Donetsk region," the Defense Ministry tweeted, sharing a video of a series of violent explosions purporting to show the Russian strikes.

That could not be verified.

"This is what the biggest and most horrific war of the 21st century looks like," the agency continued.

“Ukraine is ready for a counterstrike.

To be able to do that, we need NATO multiple rocket launcher systems.

Instantly."

Projectiles are referred to as vacuum bombs which, when detonated, draw a large amount of oxygen from the air and thus create a vacuum.

Due to the temperatures and pressure waves generated during the detonation, the bombs cause major damage within a radius of 150 to 300 meters and can also penetrate bunkers.

The use of vacuum bombs in cities can therefore cause extremely large damage.

Therefore, the use of weapons is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

Battle for Donbass “like the fighting in WWII” - “difficult moment at the front”

First report from May 26:

Kiev - In the Ukraine war, the government in Kiev currently sees its troops in a "very difficult moment at the front".

Bitter fighting was raging in the Donbass in the east of the country in particular, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The battle for Donbass is very similar to the fighting in World War II."

"Some villages and towns, they just don't exist anymore," Kuleba said.

"They were reduced to rubble by Russian artillery fire and Russian rocket launcher systems."

The Russian troops in the Donbass are currently apparently concentrating primarily on the strategically important industrial city of Severodonetsk.

The situation is "very difficult" and there are "already fighting in the suburbs," Governor Serhiy Gajdaj reported on May 25 in online networks.

"Russian troops are already close enough to fire mortar shells." According to the governor, "the coming week could be decisive".

Ukraine War News: Major City of Severodonetsk Allegedly Surrounded

Pro-Russian fighters who support Vladimir Putin's soldiers said Severodonetsk was "encircled" from three sides.

The only bridge to leave the city is now under Russian control, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

This information could not initially be checked.

According to Kuleba, Ukraine "urgently" needs rocket launcher systems to resist Russian attackers.

Russia is superior when it comes to heavy weapons, Kuleba explained in Davos.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's troops would have the greatest disadvantage with multiple rocket launcher systems.

You can find out more about the background to the Ukraine war here.