US says Russia is moving cluster and thermobaric bombs in Ukraine

The United States warned on Wednesday that Russia plans to toughen its military campaign in Ukraine and said that the Moscow Army is moving cluster and thermobaric bombs in the country, heavily criticized weapons for its destructive power.

“We have seen videos of Russian forces bringing exceptionally lethal weapons to Ukraine, They have no place on the battlefields. This includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs,” said the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfieldin a speech.

According to Thomas-Greenfield, indications point to the Kremlin is “preparing to escalate the brutality of his campaign against Ukraine.”

In the last days, from various sources Russia has been accused of using cluster bombs against civilian areas, something prohibited by international conventions.

In addition, on social networks and some media, systems with thermobaric ammunition, also known as a fuel bomb or vacuum bomb, have been seen on the ground. although there are no indications that Russia have used them.

According to human rights organizations, these are indiscriminate and extremely dangerous for the civilian population, because they use a fuel that sucks in the air when burned and is capable of destroying the lungs of people who are in the area.

In the year 2000, the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) He denounced that Russia had used this type of weapon in its offensive in Chechnya.

In 2017, the United States also used thermobaric munitions to end resistance of Islamic State fighters sheltering in caves in Afghanistan.

At a press conference in Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the United States is “documenting” how Russian attacks in Ukraine are affecting civilians, to make sure Moscow is “accountable for it”.

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The head of US diplomacy accused Moscow of launching attacks “indiscriminate” and possibly “deliberate” against the civilian population in Ukraine.

For his part, President Joe Biden assured journalists that it is “early to tell” if Russia is committing war crimes, although he believed that “it is clear” that they are deliberately attacking areas of Ukraine where there is a large civilian population.