Russia says ‘vacuum bomb’ airstrike kills hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, but Kiev denies

(CNN) — Russia says it killed a large number of Ukrainian soldiers with a so-called “vacuum bomb”, which Ukraine quickly dismissed as nonsense.

The Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces informed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a meeting that “up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers were killed as a result of a specific attack with aerial munitions,” the Defense Ministry said. This Saturday.

Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told CNN that the claims are “complete nonsense and propaganda, as well as Russian information about the deaths of 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers yesterday in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.”

CNN could not independently verify those figures.

Colonel General Alexei Kim did not indicate where the attack took place, but described the location as a “deployment point of the nationalist ‘Kraken’ formation,” according to the ministry, referring to a special unit of Ukraine’s defense intelligence.

Kim said a “volumetric detonation bomb” was used in the airstrike, according to RIA Novosti.

Volumetric weapons are also known as vacuum bombs, thermobaric weapons, or fuel-air explosives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference at the Ukraine Year 2024 Forum in Kyiv on February 25. (Credit: SOPA Images/Lightrocket/Getty Images)

According to the Lieber Institute of Law and War at the United States Military, the destruction caused by a thermobaric weapon is caused by the shock wave it creates and the resulting vacuum from the fuel-air mixture that draws in oxygen to sustain the explosion. Academy. United at West Point, New York.

The force of such an explosion is enough to collapse buildings and tear limbs. According to the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, walls or caves do not provide protection.

Details of the Russian airstrikes emerged during a meeting at the headquarters of the Joint Forces Group, where Shoigu heard reports from commanders about the current situation in the “area of ​​special military operations,” the ministry said, a phrase he uses to refer to his war in Russia. Ukraine.

Kim also did not specify when the attack was carried out, but noted that “during the last week, as a result of the effective work of the reconnaissance and attack system, three American Patriot complexes, a Vampire multiple rocket launcher, more than 10 missiles. Foreign production, Artillery systems and fuel and ammunition depots were destroyed.

Kim also told Shoigun during the meeting that Ukraine “is suffering significant losses in both equipment and manpower as a result of the use of high-precision weapons and attack drones,” the ministry said.

This story was updated with additional details.