A blast of firebombs believed to have been dropped by Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine was caught on camera. Firebombs are prohibited and inhumane weapons.
On the 20th (local time), the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense posted a short 12-second video on Twitter, adding that it “dropped a Russian 9М22ї firebomb in the village of Ochern, Donetsk.” It is the same as the video previously released by local lawmaker Roman Hrishchuk, and is a scene where a drone camera filmed a village where houses were collected from a distance.
In the video, countless flashes of light covered the sky. These flashes slowly fall to the ground, followed by white smoke. It’s like starlight pouring out, but buildings and trees are so destructive that they burn as soon as they hit the bomb.
The town of Ochern, which was attacked, was occupied by Russian forces until recently, but the Ukrainian forces managed to retake it on the 4th. Given the current regional occupation forces, there is an analysis that it is the work of the Russian side.
Before that, the Russian military dropped white phosphorus bombs, a type of firebomb, from Luhansk Province in March, and there is a precedent for using firebombs in Donbas and Kharkiv in May. In the same month, white phosphorus bombs were also used to take control of the Azoustal Mariupol Works in the southern part of the country, but the Ukrainian army, which was fighting at the time, effectively surrendered within a day of the bombing. . .
Russia, which has recently been on the defensive in the seven-month war to invade Ukraine, has even initiated a military mobilization order. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 21st (local time) a military mobilization order in relation to the war in Ukraine and said “we will mobilize all means to defend Russia”.
This is the first time since the Second World War that Russia has brought a military mobilization order. The Russian government emphasized that the mobilization order was a partial mobilization rather than an all-out mobilization order. The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that 300,000 reserve forces will be mobilized in this regard.
Shin Hyun-bo, reporter at Hankyung.com greaterfool@hankyung.com
