Graphic video footage shows the moment that pro-Russian combatants fire a volley of thermobaric missiles at Ukrainian targets near the city of Avdiivka.
The People’s Militia of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said they used a TOS-1M multiple rocket launcher and thermobaric ammunition to destroy the Ukrainian targets.
The militia boasted that thermobaric ammunition, also called aerosol bombs or Fuel Air Explosives, gives the enemy “no chance” as they are capable of “penetrating dugouts and trenches.”
The People’s Militia said on June 4: “Soldiers of the allied forces are burning Ukrainian positions with a heavy flamethrower system.
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“A TOS-1M ‘Solntsepyok’ hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Avdiivka. With one salvo [the simultaneous discharge of artillery], this combat vehicle is capable of covering 40,000 square meters – an area equivalent to four [soccer fields].”
The militia added: “Thermobaric ammunition does not give the enemy a chance: aerosol bombs penetrate dugouts, trenches and equipment used by the Ukrainian terrorists.”
TOS-1m ‘Solntsepyok’ hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Avdiivka in June 2022. (Press Service of the UNM DPR/Zenger)
We contacted Russian and Ukrainian officials for comment but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation.” June 6 marks the 103rd day of the campaign.
From February 24 to June 6, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 31,250 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,386 tanks, 3,400 armored fighting vehicles, 690 artillery systems, 207 multiple launch rocket systems, 96 anti-aircraft systems, 211 warplanes, 176 helicopters, 2,395 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 551 unmanned aerial vehicles, 53 units of special equipment, and 125 cruise missiles.
TOS-1m ‘Solntsepyok’ hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Avdiivka in June 2022. (Press Service of the UNM DPR/Zenger)
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) claimed on June 6 that Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed in a battle near Popasna in the Luhansk region.
StratCom said: “Exclusive. Meet. Commander of the DNR’s 1st Army Corps (of the orcs), Major General Roman Kutuzov has been officially denazified and demilitarized.”
In related news, the United Kingdom has announced that it is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine.
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TOS-1m ‘Solntsepyok’ hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Avdiivka in June 2022. (Press Service of the UNM DPR/Zenger)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of more attacks in Ukraine if the West sends long-range weapons.
Last week, the Russian MoD said that its Yars mobile missile systems, which can carry nuclear warheads and which boast a reported range of over 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles), were performing “intensive maneuvering operations on combat patrol routes in the Ivanovo Region”, east of the Russian capital Moscow.
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