The Ukrainians filmed the moment when they managed to destroy a Russian thermobaric missile launcher as it was preparing to fire.

The strike was carried out by the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Russian TOS-1 launcher had just taken up the position from which it was preparing to fire, and it appeared that the Ukrainians had successfully targeted it with artillery fire.

The images show how the thermobaric launcher effectively jumps into the air.

What are thermobaric weapons and “Pinocchio” TOS-1

Nicknamed “Pinocchio” after Russia’s version of Pinocchio due to its long pointed nose, the TOS-1 is a multiple rocket launcher system with 24,220 mm tubes and one of the most formidable weapons in the Russian arsenal.

Thermobaric weapons, also known as overpressure bombs or fuel-air explosives, are a type of munition that operates in two stages: the first stage disperses aerosols made of very fine material ranging from carbon-based explosives to metal particles.

In the second stage, this cloud of scattered particles ignites, creating a “fireball”, a huge shock wave and a vacuum that can suck all the oxygen out of the surrounding air, which is why they are also called vacuum bombs.

The shock created by them can last much longer than that caused by conventional explosives and can burn a person’s body. They are more powerful than conventional high-explosive munitions of comparable size, are more likely to kill and injure people in bunkers, shelters, and kill and injure particularly brutally over a large area, so their use against civilian targets is considered a war crime.

Numerous videos that appeared on social media after the start of the Russian invasion last year showed that forces sent by Vladimir Putin to Ukraine used such weapons, including during attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The use of thermobaric weapons by Russian forces was also filmed by Russian military correspondents and published by Moscow state media.

The Russian armed forces are suspected of using this type of weapon in Chechnya and Syria, as well as of providing it to pro-Russian separatists who have been fighting in Donbas since 2014.

Vacuum bombs are prohibited by the Geneva Convention, so their use is considered a war crime.