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Russia Introduces Deadly New Soviet-Inspired Bomb, Ukraine Can’t Verify

Posted on by angelo
Russia Introduces Deadly New Soviet-Inspired Bomb, Ukraine Can’t Verify

Kremlin-approved Russian military bloggers, cited by international media last week, claimed that Russia had begun testing a new 3,000 kg glide bomb, also known as the FAB-3000.

Fighter Bomber, a prominent military blogger, claimed the new bomb was twice as heavy and twice as destructive as previous models.

The FAB-3000 would contain nearly a ton and a half of explosives, according to The Independent. This is a modified ammunition inspired by the first models used during the Soviet era.

Early designs of the FAB-3000, known as the FAB-500 and FAB-1500, saw Soviet munitions modernized with fixed wings and a GPS navigation system advanced enough to get past Ukrainian air defenses.

Russian bloggers have shared images of munitions being used on a building in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine.

Firefighters work at a fire site after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in this screenshot obtained from a video posted on 10 February 2024. (credit: head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleg Syniehubov via Telegram/document via REUTERS)

Aid workers reported that bomb shelters had become useless, according to The Independent, and estimates of the number of civilian deaths resulting from the bombs range from hundreds to thousands.

“If a hover bomb hits, you have no hope,” Ada Wordsworth, who runs a charity that rebuilds houses in the Kharkiv region, told the US television channel. Independent. “The destruction is so massive. It’s a strange kind of psychological torture (to face them).

Ukrainian authorities have not yet confirmed the severity of the threat posed by the bomb, saying the fragments have not yet reached investigators. Natalia Nestor, deputy director of the Kiev Institute of Scientific Research and Forensic Expertise, said she had not yet received any evidence of the existence of FAB-3000.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the weapon had high destructive potential. It reportedly caused significant damage to its target, although it landed 10 meters away, indicating that the weapon’s ability to cause collateral damage is great.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in March it had started mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs, according to the kyiv Independent. However, this information could not be verified by Ukraine or its allies.

When will the Russian invasion of Ukraine end?

Ukraine clearly understands that any plan to end the war with Russia must be based on international law and that peace must be fair, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Tuesday.

Commenting on the Ukraine peace plan presented by two key advisers to former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in November, Podolyak told Reuters the war could not end without holding Russia to account.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that advisers presented Trump with a plan to end the war in Ukraine – if he wins the presidential election – that would involve telling Ukraine it will not get more U.S. weapons unless it begins peace talks.

Two key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – if he wins the presidential election – which involves telling Ukraine it will only get more US weapons if it begins peace talks.

The United States would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased U.S. support for Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, one of the security advisers, said in an interview national Trump.

Podolyak said freezing the war, now in its 28th month, on the current front lines would be “strange,” given that Russia has violated international law and is on Ukrainian territory.

“Ukraine has an absolutely clear understanding and it is stated in the peace formula proposed by President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, it is clearly stated there: peace can only be just and peace can only be based on international law,” he said in a statement. online interview.

Podolyak also reiterated the Ukrainian position, calling the ceasefire conditions announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin absurd. Putin said Russia would only end the war in Ukraine if kyiv agreed to cede all four eastern and southern regions claimed by Moscow.

“We see Putin’s plan: it is absolutely ridiculous,” Podolyak said.

Two weeks ago, world leaders gathered in a Swiss Alpine resort to seek broader consensus on Ukraine’s peace proposals at a summit shunned by China and dismissed as a waste of time by Russia, which has pushed its own rival’s cease-fire plans by far.

More than 90 countries took part, but the absence of China in particular dimmed hopes that the summit would show Russia as globally isolated, while recent military setbacks put kyiv on the back foot.

A draft final summit declaration, seen by Reuters, blames Russia’s “war” in Ukraine for causing “large-scale human suffering and destruction” and urges respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

The document, dated June 13, also calls on kyiv to regain control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and access to its seaports. The draft had removed an earlier reference to Russian “aggression” when “war” was cited.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called participation in the summit a success and predicted that “history would be made.”

US President Joe Biden sent his Vice President Kamala Harris to represent him, a move that angered kyiv.

Harris announced more than $1.5 billion in energy and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, where infrastructure has been pounded by Russian airstrikes since the full-scale 2022 invasion.

On the eve of the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would end the war if kyiv agreed to renounce its NATO ambitions and cede four provinces claimed by Moscow. These conditions apparently reflect Moscow’s growing confidence in its forces.

But these proposals were quickly rejected by Ukraine and its allies.

“He calls for surrender,” Harris said, adding: “Let nothing about the end of this war be decided without Ukraine.”

“Freezing the conflict today, while foreign troops occupy Ukrainian territory, is not the solution. It is a recipe for future wars of aggression,” added European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.