Horrifying footage shows the moment flesh-melting ‘thermite rain’ bombs descend on a town in eastern Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to employ brutal tactics to cling on to meagre gains.
It comes as Russian troops continue to suffer heavy losses in the bitter fight for Bakhmut, with yesterday reportedly the deadliest day for Putin’s army so far.
The Ukrainian army claimed that 1,090 soldiers were killed in 24 hours yesterday – 60 more than the previous record which they said was reached on February 7.
Putin’s forces rained incendiary projectiles on Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine in what the video suggests is a residential area.
Russia has been accused of employing thermite bombs in the past, the use of which on civilians is considered a war crime.
Thermite is a mixture made up of metal such as aluminium and iron oxide and can be used as an incendiary weapon, in the same way as napalm.
The incendiary projectiles create mass fires that are extremely hard to extinguish.
They are incredibly hot and can destroy military equipment, as well as burn through flesh.
Three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
He denounced what he called ‘brutal terrorist attacks’ by pro-Moscow units.
At least five were killed in total with another seven wounded across Ukraine’s Donetsk and Kherson regions, local Ukrainian authorities reported today.
Among Russia’s military losses yesterday, according to Ukrainian army’s General Staff, there were also eight tanks, seven armoured vehicles, four artillery guns and four air defence systems.
Ukraine and Russia both claimed yesterday that hundreds of enemy troops were killed over the previous 24 hours in the fight for Bakhmut.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, said 221 pro-Moscow troops were killed and more than 300 wounded in Bakhmut.
Russia’s defense ministry said that up to 210 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the broader Donetsk part of the frontline.
Kyiv has continued to fend off unabating attacks and a small river that bisects the town is said to now mark the front line.
Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow’s campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said there were no confirmed advances by Russian forces in Bakhmut.
Russian forces and units from the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary Wagner Group continued to launch ground attacks in the city, but there was no evidence that they were able to make any progress, ISW said last night.
It is thought that paramilitary units from the Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group have seized most of the east of it of Bakhmut, as fighting rages on in the nine month-long battle over the disputed city.
But, the UK Defense Ministry highlighted yesterday that Russia’s assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses.
The centre of Bakhmut has become a ‘killing zone’ as Ukraine’s forces stave off the Wagner Group’s efforts to cross the front line, the MoD said today yesterday.
It said in the Defence Intelligence update: ‘Over the last four days, Wagner Group forces have taken control of most of eastern part of the Donbas town of Bakhmut. In the town centre, the Bakhmutka River now marks the front line.’
The MoD added that Ukrainian forces hold the west of the town and have demolished key bridges over the river, which runs through north-south through a strip of open ground 200m to 800m wide, between built-up areas.
The post continued: ‘With Ukrainian units able to fire from fortified buildings to the west, this area has become a killing zone, likely making it highly challenging for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault westwards.
‘However, the Ukrainian force and their supply lines to the west remain vulnerable to the continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south.’
On the battlefield on Friday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the fighting in Bakhmut had ‘escalated,’ with another push by Russian forces to break through Ukrainian defense lines that have largely held firm for the past six months.
Just west of Bakhmut, shelling and missile strikes hit the Ukrainian-held city of Kostiantynivka, damaging multiple homes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed not to retreat from Bakhmut, and his forces are planning a major Spring advance to reclaim more annexed territory.
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The USA uses thermite weapons all the time, the USA even used thermite to bring down the World Trade Center towers.