A massive explosion in Ukraine has sent a fireball and mushroom cloud into the sky after a suspected vacuum bomb was reportedly deployed near Kharkiv. Terrifying footage taken from high-rise apartments shows the moment of the explosion, which is believed to have struck an airfield and ammo dump in Chuguev.
Reports suggest the Russians’ target was a weapons depot in the city. The blast wave from the explosion causes those filming to jump back. Several clips have been shared online, some with the sound of aircraft, suggesting the airfield may have been bombed from the air.
There was speculation the blast may have been caused by the deadly vacuum bombs being deployed by the Russians. Another blast was heard in the Sumy region in the northeast yesterday while Ukrainians claimed to have found parts of a vacuum bomb at Okhtyrka.
Zelensky has already accused Putin of war crimes after Moscow’s forces launched what was believed to be cluster and vacuum bomb attacks in an attempt to turn the tide of a conflict that they have so far been losing.
In a late-night address on Monday directed at Russia, Zelensky said there would ‘definitely be an international tribunal’ for what he said was a ‘violation of all conventions’ and added that ‘no one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people.’ Prosecutors at The Hague have said they intend to open a probe ‘as soon as possible’.
Zelensky spoke after what appeared to be a cluster bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv on Monday which killed eight people and wounded a further six, the regional emergency services said in a statement, adding that 10 people had been discovered alive under rubble as rescue workers cleared debris. It came after Ukraine’s ambassador to the US accused Putin’s forces of using a banned thermobaric bomb on the capital of Kyiv overnight.
