Terrifying moment when flesh-melting ‘thermite rain’ bombs hit eastern Ukrainian city
Horrifying footage shows the moment flesh-melting ‘thermite rain’ bombs descend on a city in eastern Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to use brutal tactics to cling to meager profits.
It comes as Russian troops continue to suffer heavy casualties in the bitter battle for Bakhmut, with yesterday reportedly the deadliest day yet for Putin’s army.
The Ukrainian army claimed 1,090 soldiers were killed in 24 hours yesterday – 60 more than the previous record set on February 7.
Footage also emerged yesterday of Putin’s forces raining incendiary projectiles on Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine in what the video suggests is a residential area.
Russia has been accused of using thermite bombs in the past, the use of which on civilians is considered a war crime.
Thermite is a mixture of metals such as aluminum and iron oxide and can be used as an incendiary weapon just like napalm.
The incendiary projectiles cause massive fires that are extremely difficult to extinguish.
They are incredibly hot and can destroy military equipment, as well as burn through flesh.
Three civilians were killed on Saturday in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
He denounced what he called “brutal terrorist attacks” by pro-Moscow units.
At least five people were killed and another seven injured in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Kherson, local Ukrainian authorities reported today.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Russia’s military losses yesterday also included eight tanks, seven armored vehicles, four artillery guns and four air defense systems.
Ukraine and Russia both claimed yesterday that hundreds of enemy troops have been killed in the battle for Bakhmut in the past 24 hours.
Horrifying footage shows the moment flesh-melting thermite rain descends on a town in eastern Ukraine
The incendiary projectiles cause massive fires that are extremely difficult to extinguish. They are incredibly hot and can destroy military equipment, as well as burn through flesh
What appears to be a fire caused by thermite rain down filmed in Vuhledar, Donetsk
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut.
The Russian Defense Ministry said up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the wider Donetsk part of the frontline.
Kiev has continued to fend off attacks unabated and a small river bisecting the city is now said to mark the front line.
Russia’s advance appears to have bogged down in Moscow’s campaign to take the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the war’s longest ground.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian troops in Bakhmut.
Russian troops and units of the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence they could make any progress, ISW said last night.
Paramilitary units from the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group are believed to have taken most of eastern Bakhmut as fighting continues in the nine-month battle for the disputed city.
A destroyed field hospital is seen in Zvanivka near Bakhmut’s frontline as fighting continues between Ukrainian forces and Russian forces for control of the city
An elderly woman walks through a village outside Soledar as fighting continues in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast
But the British Ministry of Defense stressed yesterday that Russia’s attack will be difficult to sustain without even greater personnel losses.
The center of Bakhmut has become a ‘killing zone’ as Ukrainian forces repel Wagner Group’s attempts to cross the frontline, the Defense Ministry said yesterday.
It said in the Defense Intelligence Service update: “For the past four days, Wagner Group forces have taken control of most of the eastern part of the Donbas town of Bakhmut. In the city center, the Bakhmutka River now marks the frontline.’
Ukrainian soldiers from the 10th Brigade fire a D-30 Howitzer at Russian infantry along the front line outside Soledar, Ukraine
The Defense Ministry added that Ukrainian forces have taken control of the west of the city and have demolished key bridges over the river, which runs north-south through a strip of open terrain 200 to 800 meters wide between built-up areas.
The post continued, “Now that Ukrainian units are able to fire from fortified buildings to the west, this area has become a killing zone, likely making it a major challenge for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault to the west.” .
“However, the Ukrainian forces and their supply lines to the west remain vulnerable to continued Russian efforts to outflank the defenders from the north and south.”
On the battlefield, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Friday that fighting had “escalated” in Bakhmut, with a new attempt by Russian troops to break through Ukrainian defense lines that had largely held up over the past six months.
Just west of Bakhmut, shelling and rocket attacks hit the Ukrainian-occupied town of Kostiantynivka, damaging several homes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed not to withdraw from Bakhmut, and his troops are planning a major advance in the spring to reclaim more annexed territory.