Ukraine crisis: Rights groups say Russia used cluster, vacuum bombs

Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States on Monday accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs, weapons that have been condemned by a variety of international organizations.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said that Russian forces appeared to have used widely banned cluster munitions.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told reporters after meeting with members of the U.S. Congress that Russia had used a thermobaric weapon, known as a vacuum bomb.

“They used the vacuum bomb today,” Markarova said after a meeting with lawmakers. “...The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large.”

A vacuum bomb, or thermobaric weapon, sucks in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, typically producing a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than that of a conventional explosive and is capable of vaporizing human bodies.

There has been no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons have been used in the conflict in Ukraine. CNN reported that one of its teams had spotted a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border early on Saturday afternoon.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she had seen reports but did not have confirmation that Russia had used such weapons. She noted that there are international organizations that would assess that and President Joe Biden’s administration “would look to be a part of that conversation.”

The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

Amnesty International said international humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions.