Putin's most powerful weapon. It will destroy the entire city in a few seconds

TOS-1 and TOS-2 are terrifying weapons that burn the earth to the ground. You can't hide or protect yourself from it. The use of thermobaric weapons against civilian targets is prohibited by the Geneva Convention. However, the Russians don't care much about it and send it to the hardest sections, where they burn Ukrainian villages with fire.

Victims struck by thermobaric weapons are almost boiled alive. That is why its use is subject to many restrictions. The Geneva Convention prohibits its use against civilian purposes, residential buildings or public squares.

The Russians use the tracked TOS-1 and wheeled TOS-2 systems in Ukraine. Both were created in the Transmash design office in Omsk in the 1970s. The first prototype was created in 1978. Two years later, TOS-1 passed state tests and was recommended as armament of the Soviet Army.

The currently used, modified TOS-1A Sołncepiok system is a self-propelled 24-rail 220 mm thermobaric missile launcher, carried by the BM-1 vehicle built on an adapted chassis of the T-72 or T-90 tank and two TZM-T ammunition vehicles with a supply of 12 missiles on each vehicle.

It takes 25-30 minutes to fully load a fire unit and less than two minutes to prepare the BM-1 for firing. It takes up to 12 seconds to fire a full salvo. Unguided missiles have a range of approximately 6-10 km.

Once hit, all hell breaks loose

Once you hit the target, all hell breaks loose on the ground. Missiles are designed to destroy fortifications, so hiding in a combat shelter does not help in any way. The deadly factor is not only the shock wave, which breaks bones and crushes internal organs, but also the very high temperature, which - if hidden in a building - burns the respiratory tract and melts the skin.

Weapons can cause worse than instant death. It may cause minimal damage to brain tissue and major damage to the inner ear, lungs and other organs. As a result, the victim slowly dies for several minutes after the explosion.

"When hitting the target, a small charge sprays flammable material into the air, creating an explosive mixture. Then an explosion is initiated, sucking oxygen from the area and more powerful than a classic bomb of the same size"

- this is how belsat.eu describes the operation of the weapon.

It is used since 34 years

The system was first used in combat at the end of the war in Afghanistan. In January 1989, two TOS-1 Buratino vehicles were tested during Operation Typhoon in the Panjsher Valley. It turned out that the use of thermobaric missiles in mountain conditions is downright murderous. The hot shock wave could bounce off the rock walls several times and destroy everything in its path.

Then the Russians used the system during the fighting in Chechnya for Komsomolskoye, where they were unable to break through the enemy's defense for a long time. For the same reason, in 2014, "separatists" used it at the airport in Luhansk. This was one of the irrefutable proofs that the Kremlin supplies weapons to terrorists in Donbas. At the same time, the weapon was also used by the Iraqi army during the Battle of Tikrit. The Russians then used it in Syria two years later.

During a full-scale operation in Ukraine, TOS-1 appeared on February 28, when it turned out that the Russian armored-mechanized column was unable to cope with the Ukrainian defense. Then, TOS units appeared near Belgorod and began firing at positions on the other side of the border.