While Trump Chatters About Peace, Putin Gears Up With Thermobaric and White Phosphorus Bombs
By: Giorgio Provinciali
Live from Ukraine
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ZAPORIZHZHIA – The Russian Federation is intensifying the launch of white phosphorus ammunition and thermobaric bombs on large tracts of the front, with particular violence against Huliajpole.
In the past few hours, we have collected the dramatic testimony of a young Ukrainian soldier who suffered severe injuries to the abdomen and lungs after a Russian drone released, with punctual precision, white phosphorus directly at the exit of the trench where he was found on the front we write from. The images recorded by the rescue team are as heartbreaking as the pain that boy must have felt, finding himself with his bowels literally protruding from his abdomen and unable to extinguish the phosphorus, which was causing deep chemical burns. In similar cases, throwing water is one of the most counterintuitive and harmful responses to such ammunition. In fact, white phosphorus burns in reaction with oxygen in a radically different way from traditional fuels: water only temporarily extinguishes the visible flame but disperses the particles into smaller fragments that adhere to clothes, eyes, and skin. As soon as the water evaporates, the phosphorus comes back into contact with the air, and combustion resumes in an even more aggressive manner because the liquid has increased its reactive surface area. Although his abdomen was stitched up with a very delicate surgery – which still left permanent dysfunction – that young soldier also reported severe systemic intoxication with damage to the kidneys, liver, and lungs due to the inhalation of toxic smoke.
The Russians have been using this type of ammunition against Ukrainian trenches and shelters for years because it is relatively cheap and triggers instinctive reactions that, as in the case of that boy, worsen the outcome of the attack by preparing the ground for thermobaric weapons.
The escalation compared to the past is that today it is drones that carry and release this ammunition with selective precision, hitting critical points to generate panic and render even the most disciplined and trained units helpless.
It is the same scorched-earth doctrine already observed in Mariupol’, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka, now adapted to the war of drones.
Short of men, Moscow has launched a massive contractor recruitment campaign in the Ukrainian territories it occupies, with the declared aim of recruiting 67,000 by 2026. No longer able to feed the Ukrainian meatgrinder with waves of infantry as in the past, it uses white and thermobaric phosphorus indiscriminately to empty the Ukrainian lines, making the trenches unusable even after the shock wave.
Southern Ukraine Defense Forces spokesman Vladyslav Voloshyn confirmedjust a few hours ago that unmanned Russian units operating toward Hulyaipole have received approximately 1,500 thermobaric munitions in recent days, intended for drone equipment.
This is not a random choice.
In fact, white phosphorus and thermobaric munitions serve different but converging tactical functions. Burning as described, the former generates immediate panic and forces defenders to leave cover, making positions unusable. To complete the massacre, thermobaric bombs do not act as conventional explosives but through prolonged overpressure waves: they consume environmental oxygen and generate temperatures of hundreds of degrees, capable of destroying internal organs and causing fatal lung collapses. Their combined use is a particularly effective, deadly mix against trenches, improvised bunkers, and shelters: exactly the type of defense adopted by the Ukrainian infantry in the static sectors around Huliajpole.
The most disturbing data concern quantity: 1,500 bombs indicate not episodic use but a logistical preposition aimed at saturation through repeated, coordinated attacks. To adapt them for release from multirotor drones such as FPVs, the Russians have initiated an industrial conversion of light thermobaric grenades, derived from models such as RGT-TB or similar.
Although it may seem unnecessary to do so in front of those – in Moscow as much as in Washington – who consider international law, agreements, and even the establishment of their own country, the systematic use of white phosphorus and thermobaric ammunition against trenches and areas near inhabited centers raises serious concerns about violations of international humanitarian law.
Although it is not absolutely prohibited, the former cannot, in fact, be used against persons or indiscriminately, as provided for by Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Selective use of drones against shelters and trenches is, in fact, equivalent to a direct employment against staff. Due to their uncontrollable effects of overpressure, heat, and asphyxiation, thermobaric weapons pose similar problems of proportionality and distinction.
The combined and repeated use of these munitions, especially in inhabited areas, strengthens the configurability of war crimes under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.
After seeing what chattering about peace produces, it makes sense to refocus on war.
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当特朗普谈论和平时，普京却在准备热真空弹和白磷弹
作者：Giorgio Provinciali
乌克兰前线报道
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扎波罗热——俄罗斯联邦正在加大白磷弹和热真空弹对广泛的前线区域的发射力度，特别是对胡利阿波尔实施了猛烈攻击。
在过去的几个小时里，我们收集到了一名年轻乌克兰士兵的悲惨证词，他在俄罗斯无人机的精准投放下，遭受了严重的腹部和肺部伤害，白磷直接投放在他所处的战壕出口。救援队记录的影像令人心碎，正如那个男孩所承受的痛苦，他的内脏几乎从腹部突出，无法扑灭造成深度化学灼伤的白磷。在类似情况下，喷撒水是对这种弹药最反直觉且有害的对策。
实际上，白磷与氧气反应的燃烧方式与传统燃料截然不同：水只是暂时扑灭了可见的火焰，却将颗粒分散成更小的碎片，附着在衣物、眼睛和皮肤上。一旦水分蒸发，白磷重新接触空气，燃烧过程会以更加激烈的方式重新开始，因为液体增加了其反应表面积。尽管他的腹部经过非常精细的手术缝合——仍然留下了永久性功能障碍——那名年轻士兵还报告了由于吸入有毒烟雾导致的严重系统中毒，影响了肾脏、肝脏和肺部。
（图：一枚俄罗斯导弹摧毁了一栋9层的民用建筑，留下了我身后的弹坑——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
俄罗斯人多年来一直在使用这种类型的弹药对乌克兰的战壕和掩体发动攻击，因为它相对便宜，并引发本能反应，正如那名男孩的情况，通过为热真空武器的使用铺平了道路，从而恶化攻击的结果。
与过去相比的升级是，今天是无人机携带弹药并以选择性精确度投放到关键目标以制造恐慌，使即使是最有纪律和训练有素的部队也无力抵抗。
这与在马里乌波尔、巴赫穆特和阿夫迪伊夫卡观察到的焦土政策相同，现更是整合为无人机战争。
由于人手短缺，莫斯科在其占领的乌克兰地区启动了大规模的雇佣兵招募活动，目标是在2026年之前招募67,000人。再也无法像过去那样通过一波波步兵供给乌克兰绞肉机消耗，它无差别地使用白磷和热真空弹，试图清空乌克兰的防线，使战壕即便在冲击波过后也无法使用。
几小时前，南乌克兰防御部队发言人弗拉季斯拉夫·沃洛欣证实，近期在朝胡利阿波尔方向作战的俄军无人部队获得了约1500枚热真空弹，用于无人机装备。
这不是一个偶然的选择。
事实上，白磷和热真空弹有着不同但又相互交汇的战术功能。如前所述燃烧的白磷产生即时恐慌，迫使防御者离开掩体，使阵地无法使用。为了完成大屠杀，热真空弹不以常规炸药的方式作用，而是通过持续的过压波：它们消耗环境中氧气并产生数百度的高温，能够摧毁内脏并导致致命的肺塌陷。它们的联合使用对于战壕、临时碉堡和掩体是特别有效和致命的组合：这正是乌克兰步兵在胡利阿波尔周围静态防线采用的防御类型。
最令人不安的数据是数量：1500枚炸弹表明这并不是偶发使用，而是一种旨在通过反复协调攻击实现饱和的后勤筹备。为了使其能够从多旋翼无人机（如FPV）中投放，俄罗斯人已经启动了轻型热真空手榴弹的工业改造，源自如RGT-TB或类似的型号。
（图：我在一处乌克兰基础设施（一个文化中心）内为Alla拍摄了这张照片，俄罗斯人曾把这里作为战壕使用，后来被赶出了乌克兰顿巴斯这部分地区——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
虽然在那些（无论是在莫斯科还是华盛顿）认为国际法、协议以及自己国家的建立是人面前这样做似乎毫无必要，但系统地使用白磷弹和热真空弹攻击战壕及附近居民中心地区，引发了对违反国际人道法的严重关注。
虽然并非绝对禁止，但根据《常规武器公约》第三条议定书所规定的，白磷弹实际上也不能对人进行使用或无差别使用。选择性使用无人机攻击掩体和战壕实际上相当于对人员的直接攻击。由于其造成不可控的过压、热和窒息效应，热真空武器在比例和区分方面存在类似的问题。
这些弹药的联合和反复使用，特别是在有人居住的地区，进一步加强了根据《日内瓦公约》和《罗马规约》认定战争罪的可能性。
在看到讨论和平所带来的后果后，重新关注战争是明智的。
（图：我在乌克兰扎波罗热报道 ——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
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