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On Monday, human rights organisations and Ukraine’s envoy to the US accused Russia of assaulting Ukrainians with cluster and vacuum bombs, weapons that have been denounced by numerous international organisations.
Russian soldiers appeared to have used widely banned cluster munitions, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, with Amnesty accusing them of targeting a preschool in northern Ukraine while civilians took refuge inside.
After meeting with members of the US Congress, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, informed reporters that Russia had invaded her nation with a thermobaric weapon known as a vacuum bomb.
Markarova remarked following a meeting with lawmakers, “They used the vacuum bomb today.” “…Russia is attempting to wreak havoc on Ukraine.”
A vacuum bomb, also known as a thermobaric weapon, absorbs oxygen from the surrounding air to produce a high-temperature explosion with a blast wave that lasts much longer than a normal explosive and is capable of vaporising human beings.
The employment of thermobaric weapons in the Ukrainian conflict has not been officially confirmed. Early Saturday afternoon, CNN reported that one of its teams had observed a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she had read reports but couldn’t confirm if Russia had deployed such weapons. “If that’s true, it might constitute a war crime,” she said at a press conference, adding that international organisations would investigate the matter and that President Joe Biden’s administration “would endeavour to be a part of that debate.”
Requests for comment to the Russian embassy in Washington were not returned.
Markarova stated that Ukraine is actively collaborating with the Biden administration and Congress in order to gain additional weaponry and stiffer sanctions.
“They should pay, and they should pay a hefty price,” she said after the meeting to reporters.
Democratic Representative Brad Sherman, who attended the conference, said the Ukrainians had requested a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone above Ukraine, but he thought that was too risky because it could lead to conflict with Russia.
According to Amnesty International, the use of weapons that are inherently indiscriminate, such as cluster munitions, is prohibited by international humanitarian law. A war crime is launching indiscriminate strikes that kill or hurt civilians.
