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What are vacuum bombs? Putin unleashes deadly weapon on Ukraine, several civilians killed

'No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people,' Ukraine President Zelenskyy said to Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin violated a number of international conventions as he called a series of bombings on Ukraine, killing several civilians. On Monday, February 28, Putin launched an attack with the deadly vacuum bombs and cluster bombs, which are both prohibited by the Geneva Convention. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement against Putin following the attack, saying, "No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people." He also predicted that Putin would be tried in an international tribunal for his war crimes. 

On the fifth day of Ukraine invasion, Russian troops were given orders to carry out an indiscriminate bombing campaign on Kharkiv. The bombing happened barely 24 hours after the civilians and Ukrainian troops resisted Russian efforts to infiltrate the city. Around lunchtime on Monday, a series of bombs, shells, and rockets fell on the city of 1.5 million people. So far, 11 civilians have been reported dead including three children. Many homes and a school building were reduced to rubble, while the Russian army also dropped vacuum bombs on oil storage units in Ochtyrka. 

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Putin had previously threatened to unleash the 'father of all bombs' or the vacuum bombs on Ukraine if they continue to resist the Russian invasion. The vacuum bombs are basically thermobaric weapons that can launch a barrage of fuel-air explosive warheads and have the capability of "melting" opposing forces. The weapons can rupture and even vaporize internal organs from a high-temperature explosion. Russia is well-known for its massive arsenal of thermobaric weapons, which experts consider the most devastating non-nuclear weapons in modern-day warfare.

Some sources in Ukraine earlier shared clips of convoys with thermobaric rocket launchers headed for the border. The tanks reportedly feature a terrifying oblong-shaped rack on top, loaded with batches of incendiary and thermobaric rockets. 

Meanwhile, Russia also used the controversial cluster bombs, a weapon with multiple explosive submunitions. An insider source from the military told MailOnline, "The BM-21 Grad is a multiple launch rocket system used for "area denial", dropping cluster bombs on a concentrated area." They further noted, "It's mainly used on enemy troops before an offensive. Used against civilians, it's not only a war crime, but has only one purpose – to spread terror and alarm among the civilian population."

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the US highlighted the details of Russian bombing to the US Congress. "They used the vacuum bomb today, which is actually prohibited by the Geneva convention. The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large," she noted. 

Putin has also alerted the nuclear warheads in his country, warning Ukraine and Europe of nuclear warfare in case of non-cooperation with his demands. More shockingly, Russia presently possesses the largest repository of nuclear weapons in the world.