HELL UNLEASHED
Inside Putin’s barbaric arsenal of vacuum bombs, hailstorm rockets & cluster bombs as Kyiv braces for fresh onslaught
VLADIMIR Putin is feared to be on the verge of using barbaric tactics that could bring death and destruction on an unprecedented scale to Ukraine.
It comes as the world watches a 40 mile long column of Russian armour which is bearing down on the besieged capital of Kyiv amid fears the conflict is about to step up to a bloody new phase.
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Putin is reported to have believed he could have swept to victory in just 48 hours in Ukraine - but has instead found a fierce and heroic resistance pushing back against his armies.
And with reports of Russian tanks running out fuel, soldiers running low of supplies, and ever mounting losses - its feared Putin could change his tactics.
Ukraine could face the vicious shock and awe methods which were so terrifyingly deployed by Moscow in theatres of war such as Syria and Chechnya.
Devastated cityscapes reduced to rubble and left devoid of life have become some of the most terrifying images of modern warfare meted out by Moscow.
And while brazen Russia claims it merely wants to "denazify" and "demilitarise" its neighbour, Western officials fear an increasingly frustrated Putin will turn to total war and blitzkrieg tactics.
He has already unleashed hellish bombardments on Kharkiv, has been accused of using so-called vacuum bombs, and has been accused of war crimes.
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Other weapons that Putin may unleash include the horrifying "hail" launchers, the BM-21 Grads, which have already been pictured rolling in Ukraine.
And Vlad could turn to the devastating cluster bombs which he was accused of using to horrific impact in Syria.
Russia is believed to have killed around 7,000 innocent people during its intervention on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
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Henry Wilkinson, chief intelligence officer at security intelligence firm Dragonfly, said: " The Russian military will now try to bring to bear the full scale of its capabilities that it has built up near and in Ukraine.
"This is highly likely to include greater use of indiscriminate artillery fire and airstrikes, which appears to have already begun in Kharkiv.
"On the battlefield, this means more indiscriminate use of force, particularly artillery, ballistic missiles, airstrikes and highly destructive attacks using thermobaric weapons, including on the civilian population."
It comes as:
- Russia has a 40-mile column bearing down on Kyiv as the city endured another night of airstrikes
- Belarus is believed to have deployed troops to Ukraine for the first time - entering the invasion
- Putin is believed to unleashed terrifying "vacuum bombs" which can blow out people's lungs
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of war crimes over the attacks of Kharkiv
- Zelenskyy also gave Boris Johnson a "shopping list" of arms needed to defeat Russian forces
- Brits are signing up in their droves to join up in Ukraine and fight against Putin
- The Klitschko brothers are on a "kill list" of leading Ukrainians the Russians want dead
- Brave civilians unleashed a molotov cocktail attack on a Russian tank as they fight back
- At least 16 children have been killed - including a little girl, 6, as her docs told reporters 'show this to Putin'
- The Russian tyrant has amassed 6,000 nuclear weapons as he puts his arsenal on high alert
Grads are a key part of the Russian artillery and can fire two rocket every second from its massive 40 barrel launcher.
The rockets can fly around 25 miles and can carry explosive warheads of up 25kgs - bringing death to their targets in a storm of fire.
Cluster bombs meanwhile are dropped from aircraft in a spinning motion as they freefall towards their targets.
The bombs then break open - and fire out dozens of "bomblets" across a wide area.
Munitions of this type are banned by over 100 countries as they can cause horrific amounts of civilian deaths.
Russia however, has not banned the weapons.
Vacuum bombs, also known as thermobaric weapons or aerosol bombs, are some of the most terrifying weapons in Putin's arsenal.
The explosives can be fired from vehicle mounted or handheld launchers or they can be deployed from bombers.
And they are often specifically used to kill enemies hiding in foxholes.
The US Defense Intelligence Agency described the way the bombs kill you as both in "unique" and "unpleasant".
Thermobaric bombs can rupture your lungs, burst your eardrums, crush your organs, lead to severe concussions and even blind you.
The immediate blast wave is also capable of vaporizing human bodies.
And for those not close enough to feel the full force of the explosion, the bombs use up the oxygen in air - leaving victims suffocating to death.
The weapons are not illegal - but they have been widely condemned.
And their use in Putin's indiscriminate bombing campaign could see them used against civilians hiding in basements or bunkers.
The special properties of the weapon mean that no one is safe - even the thousands of Ukrainians seeking shelter in underground stations.
The weapons are fuel-air explosives which contain a two-stage charge and a container of highly volatile chemicals.
Nazi scientist Mario Zippermayr is the first to have attempted to develop the weapons during World War 2 for use by the Germans.
And the weapons were then first deployed in combat by the US during the Vietnam War, sparking the Soviets to follow suit - first using them against China in 1969 and in their disastrous invasion of Afghanistan.
Unlike a normal bomb which simply detonates, the double chemical blast from the thermobaric creates a surging, flowing fireball that swallows up oxygen.
It is this effect that gives them the name: "Vacuum Bomb".
The first detonation bursts open the container and spreads the fuel in a cloud which mixes with the air's oxygen.
And then the second charge ignites this highly flammable cloud, creating a massive blast and huge explosive wave.
With the chemicals mixed with the air create a backdraught style effect as the fire burns the superheated gasses and the oxygen.
It moves into buildings and underground bunkers - torching those inside.
And along with the fireball there is also a massive, wide-ranging pressure wave.
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(HRW) warned it is "virtually impossible" for civilians to hide from the impacts of a vacuum bomb.
It said the weapons are 12 to 16 times more effective than a conventional bomb in enclosed spaces.
"In its destructive capability, it is comparable to low-yield nuclear munitions," one Russian scientist warned.
CIA officials also warned that those on the fringes of the blast wave might suffer "invisible" internal injuries.
And these wounds are very hard to treat for doctors, especially in the circumstances around a warzone.
Undetonated bombs can also be highly dangerous as they contain toxic chemicals, such as ethylene oxide and propylene oxide.
Russia is believed to have used the horrific weapons to devastating effect during the Chechen Wars and also deployed them during Putin's bloody campaign in Syria.
And with Ukraine now alleging the weapons were used against them, it shows a brutal escalation into Putin's vicious invasion.
Russia's primary delivery method for the weapons is the TOS-1 Buratino rocket launchers - which are known to be on the move near Ukraine.
There has been no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons have been used in the conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking on GMB earlier, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, former NATO deputy supreme commander, also accused Russia of using devastating vacuum bombs.
He said: "They're now into a bitter fight for the cities. This now turns to a very bitter different phase of the war.
"It must be exposed to the Russians. They're just getting propaganda, they need to be told the truth, so that they understand what's being done in their name.
"They're using thermobaric weapons - it creates a fuel-air mixture, it sucks the oxygen out of the air around it, it creates a shockwave, it's highly destructive, affects anyone sheltering in cellars, its incredibly disruptive, that's why it's banned.
"In terms of humane ways of fighting the war, they're out on a different scale."
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