PHOSPHORUS BOMB – The mayor of Irpin assures that phosphorus bombs were used in Ukraine by the Russians. No proof has yet been provided, but we offer to explain what these weapons consist of.
[Mis à jour le 24 mars 2022 à 13h06] On the evening of Wednesday March 23, Oleksandr Markouchine, Mayor of Irpin, affirmed on BFM-TV that the Russians had used phosphorus bombs. “Specialists must come to confirm this 100%. Today, we consider 90% that these are phosphorus bombs”, he specified on the antenna of the news channel in continued. According to him, the Russian armed forces have not respected certain international rules concerning its use, in particular that of not using it if civilians are in the vicinity. Olivier Lepick, associate researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, explained the reasons for this on BFM-TVWednesday evening: “These weapons have a fairly significant capacity for terror. Phosphorus, in contact with the air, rises to a very high temperature and causes fires. When civilians are nearby, this causes extremely burns. grave and rather abominable in appearance.”
Indeed, phosphorus is a pyrophoric chemical element. His particuliarity ? It burns on contact with air. Militarily, phosphorus is used in two ways. It can make light if you put a small amount of it in a bomb that you throw in the air with a parachute. Of course, phosphorus can also be used to destroy, kill and injure the enemy if used in large quantities in a bomb.
However, this weapon is not prohibited. It is not chemical but incendiary. It is therefore authorized militarily, as long as it does not affect civilians. However, some are more measured about its use. Ludovic Monnerat, deputy editor of the Swiss Military Review at Swiss Info, considered in 2009 that “white phosphorus is not as dangerous [que des armes chimiques, NDLR], even if it is a dirty weapon. It is not considered a chemical weapon within the meaning of the convention of the same name and is therefore not prohibited. But various actors consider that it is nevertheless one “.
All this makes the mayor of Irpin say that “it is scary, but we see that Russia is crossing all the prohibitions, all the possible and impossible limits. I am not surprised that they are using phosphorus weapons”. According to the defense consultant of BFM TV Michel Goyat, “when there is so much phosphorus, it means that we intend to burn something, burn people”. Comments tempered on the air by Olivier Lepick: “At this stage, we must remain extremely cautious. It is far too early to conclude. Even if these weapons have very specific characteristics, which make it possible to identify them.”