Moment Russia unleashes TOS-1A rocket launcher that ‘sucks the air out of victims’ near Bakhmut

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Footage has emerged of a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS purportedly being blasted in the Bakhmut area of Ukraine, where there has been intense fighting over the Christmas period.

The video, posted on Twitter and said to have been filmed a week ago, shows the weapon being raised from the tank before several rounds of rockets are fired.

They can be seen exploding on the ground through the eyes of the soldiers firing them, in black and white footage with the crosshair visible on the screen.

The TOS-1A is used to clear out buildings, bunkers and field fortifications. It is also effective against light armoured vehicles and was adopted by the Russian Army in 2001.

Moment Russia unleashes TOS-1A rocket launcher that ‘sucks the air out of victims’ near Bakhmut

A video, said to have been filmed ‘a week ago’ was posted on Twitter today of a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS ‘in the Bakhmut area of Ukraine

Footage shows the weapon being raised from the tank before the several rounds of rockets are fired

Footage shows the weapon being raised from the tank before the several rounds of rockets are fired

In the footage, missiles can be seen exploding on the ground through the eyes of the soldiers firing them, in black and white footage with the crosshair visible on the screen

In the footage, missiles can be seen exploding on the ground through the eyes of the soldiers firing them, in black and white footage with the crosshair visible on the screen

Thermobaric bombs work in two stages. When a charge is deployed, the first blast sprays a fuel vapour throughout the surrounding area.

A second blast then ignites the vapour cloud in the air.

Thermobaric bombs are not banned under international law, but countries using them risk being convicted of a war crime. 

After Ukraine’s forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, most of the heaviest fighting has taken place around Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, which Russia has been trying to take for months.

There has also been intense conflict further north in the cities of Svatove and Kreminna, where Ukraine is trying to break Russian defensive lines.

Bakhmut was home to 70,000 people before the war.

Pictured: A building burns in the south part of shelled area in Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 21

Pictured: A building burns in the south part of shelled area in Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 21

Pictured: A Ukrainian grad launcher fires from the launch, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, on the frontline in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 24, 2022

Pictured: A Ukrainian grad launcher fires from the launch, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, on the frontline in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 24, 2022

Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen fire with a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on December 28, 2022

Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen fire with a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on December 28, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that ‘only a few civilians’ remained there after months of conflict.

Fighting for Bakhmut has worsened over Christmas after Russian armed forces deployed a fresh wave of troops and armoured vehicles on the front lines amid a barrage of new rocket attacks.

The city has been reduced to a bombed-out ghost town where debris is strewn across the streets amid constant blasts.

The city sits on an important confluence of supply routes and, when fighting started at least, was seen as a vital staging point for assaults further into Donbas – particularly the nearby cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

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In Bakhmut city centre, where most buildings have been set ablaze, soldiers are engaged in brutal urban warfare, shooting at one another amid the ruins while trying to avoid being blown to pieces by artillery fire.

Pictured: A soldier of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion takes cover from artillery shelling on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

Pictured: A soldier of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion takes cover from artillery shelling on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

Pictured: Smoke billows after Russian attacks in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 27, 2022

Pictured: Smoke billows after Russian attacks in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 27, 2022

The surrounding countryside meanwhile has been turned into a muddy hell-scape across which Russian troops are forced to march in futile WW1-style attempts to gain ground.

Whole forests have been cut down by artillery shells, tanks and drone strikes while soldiers hunker down in swamp-like trenches, blasting one another across the new European no-man’s land.

Ukraine was hit with ‘massive’ Russian missile strikes across the country on Thursday morning, including in the capital Kyiv. 

‘The enemy is attacking Ukraine from various directions with air and sea-based cruise missiles from strategic aircraft and ships,’ Ukraine’s air force said on social media.

Pictured: Soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion gather information on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

Pictured: Soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion gather information on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

Pictured: A mortar shell explodes as soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion evacuate a local resident from a basement with an armoured vehicle on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

Pictured: A mortar shell explodes as soldiers of a Ukrainian intelligence battalion evacuate a local resident from a basement with an armoured vehicle on the frontline on December 28, 2022 in Bakhmut, Ukraine

According to presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak, more than 120 missiles were fired.

Two private houses were hit by fragments of downed missiles in the east of the capital, while an ‘industrial enterprise’ and a playground were damaged in the city’s southwest, the Kyiv city military administration said.

Local officials said attacks killed at least two people around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The strikes also wounded at least six people across the country, although the toll of the attacks was growing as officials assessed the day’s events.

Blasts were also reported in the western city of Lviv, mayor Andryi Sadovyi said.

Lviv region governor Maksim Kozytski said air defence was operating and called on residents to take stay in shelters.

Ukrainian Railways said numerous train lines were delayed as a result of power outages.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that the capital could experience power cuts and urged residents to charge their devices and stock up on reserves of water.

Power cuts were also announced in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, aimed at minimising potential damage to the energy infrastructure.

Pictured: Local people who received food supply in an humanitarian aid distribution as daily life continues in Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 21, 2022

Pictured: Local people who received food supply in an humanitarian aid distribution as daily life continues in Bakhmut, Ukraine on December 21, 2022

Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said 90 per cent of the western city is without power and also warned of water disruptions as a result of Russian attacks Thursday.

‘We are waiting for more information from the power engineers. Trams and trolleybuses are not running in the city. There may be interruptions in water supply. We are switching to diesel generators at critical infrastructure facilities,’ Sadovyi said on Telegram.

Belarus summoned Ukraine’s ambassador after saying that it had shot down a Ukrainian air defence missile over its territory, the Belarus Foreign Ministry said.

‘We have demanded that Ukraine carry out a thorough investigation into all the circumstances of the missile launch, bring those responsible to justice and take comprehensive measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future. Which could lead to catastrophic consequences for everyone,’ ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said.

Belarus’ defence ministry said its air defences had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile on Thursday morning, during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war. 

The US embassy in Kyiv said Moscow was ramping up its campaign of attacks, ‘cruelly wielding cold and dark’ against Ukraine.

‘Russia does not want peace with Ukraine,’ said British ambassador Melinda Simmons. ‘Russia wants the subjugation of Ukraine.’

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Russian troops had ‘deliberately’ targeted and killed civilians.

‘There will be no impunity for Russian war crimes,’ he added.

As Ukraine came under a fresh assault, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part by video link in a ceremony that saw the commissioning of new warships and a nuclear-powered submarine.

Pictured: Smoke billows after Russian attacks in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 27, 2022

Pictured: Smoke billows after Russian attacks in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on December 27, 2022

Aftermath of Russian missile strike on a residential area in the Darnytsky district of Kyiv, Ukraine

Aftermath of Russian missile strike on a residential area in the Darnytsky district of Kyiv, Ukraine

Western intelligence has said Russia is struggling to meet ordnance needs for the invasion, something Moscow has denied.

‘We will never run out of Kalibrs,’ the Russian defence ministry said on Thursday, referring to the cruise missiles used against Ukraine.

The latest Defence Intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence said: ‘In the early hours of 26 December 2022, Russia’s Engels Air Base was attacked for the second time in three weeks.

‘Russian media reported that uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) were responsible for the strike on the facility, one of the main operating bases of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet.

‘Russia has long given a very high priority to maintaining advanced ground-based air defences, but it is increasingly clear that it is struggling to counter air threats deep inside Russia.’

The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency has said that the conflict is currently at a standstill as both Ukraine and Russia are failing to make significant progress.

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Kyiv has repeatedly asked for more advanced weapons from Western allies.

Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC in an interview that Russia was now at a dead end having experienced very major losses, and he believed Russia had decided to announce another mobilisation of conscripts.

He argued that Ukrainian forces are still short of resources to push forward in several areas.

Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, speaks during an interview with Reuters, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 25, 2022

Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, speaks during an interview with Reuters, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 25, 2022

‘We can’t defeat them in all directions comprehensively. Neither can they,’ he said.

‘We’re very much looking forward to new weapons supplies, and to the arrival of more advanced weapons.’

Earlier this month, after a string of Russian military failures, Ukrainian officials warned that another ground offensive by Moscow’s forces from Belarus could take place at the beginning of 2023.

They said the push could feature a second attempt to capture the capital, Kyiv, and involve tens of thousands of reservists being trained in Russia.

However, Budanov said Russia’s proceedings in Belarus, including the movement of thousands of troops, were aimed at forcing Ukraine to divert troops from the battlefields in the south and east to the north.

The interview came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, for the first time in more than three years.

His visit caused fears that he might try to persuade long-time ally President Alexander Lukashenko to send troops from Belarus to Ukraine.

Budanov believes society in Belarus will not get behind any further involvement in the conflict and analysts have raised doubt as to how prepared its army is.

Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Pictured: Major General Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

He said he saw no significant, immediate threat from the troops in Belarus.

For Russia, taking Bakhmut would sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow for a push towards other Ukrainian strongholds in the east, including Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Budanov said the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary army, was leading the offensive.

Its founder, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, is thought to want to take the city as a political trophy, amid rivalries between senior Russian officials.

Russia has been involved in a relentless air campaign since mid-October, hitting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with drones and missiles, leaving a large chunk of the population without water, heating or electricity.

Budanov said the strikes were likely to continue, but suggested Russia would not be able to sustain the level of the attacks because of diminishing missile reserves, and the inability of Russian industry to replenish them.

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