Explained: What Is Phosphorus Bomb And Why Russia Is Accused Of Using It On Ukraine

As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine grows, reports indicate that hundreds of people have died in both nations. Reports suggest, although the forces of both countries (Russia Ukraine Crisis) have suffered greatly in the battle, the majority of the dead are Ukrainian citizens.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's human rights ombudswoman has accused Russia of attacking the village of Popasna in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk area overnight with illegal phosphorus munitions.

Liudmila Denisova, the ombudswoman, posted a photo claiming to show the alleged attack, but the allegations have yet to be independently verified. "According to the Rome Convention, the bombardment of a civilian city by Russian troops with these weaponry is a war crime and a crime against humanity," she stated in an online statement. There was no response from Russia on this.

Russia accused of using phosphorus bombs

Hindustan news hub/Representational image

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Markiyan Lubkivsky said that Putin was copying Russian methods from Syria and warned of "further catastrophic attacks" on Ukraine.

In a Facebook post, Serhiy Haidai, the chairman of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, said that "Russian war criminals'' had deployed phosphorus munitions in Popasna. "In Popasna, war criminals, Russian troops, used phosphorus weapons. "A force that is destructive, devastating, and unsightly."

As per the International Committee of the Red Cross, the lighted phosphorus flames at levels above 800 degree Celsius, and fires can spread over enormous areas, up to several hundred square kilometres. The use of such tools can result in life-threatening injuries or a delayed, excruciating death. According to the his translated Facebook post, Additional Protocols to the 1977 Geneva Convention restrict the deployment of white phosphorous bombs if they endanger civilians.

Following its invasion of Ukraine, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg cautioned that Russia could deploy chemical weapons, which would be a war crime. Russia's latest "absurd assertions about chemical and biological weapons laboratories" in Ukraine, according to Stoltenberg, could indicate that Vladimir Putin intends to use them as a justification for such attacks.

According to reports, it echoed concerns expressed by the United Kingdom and the United States earlier this week that the Kremlin was preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine after officials claimed without evidence that the US was aiding a bioweapons programme in the nation.

Stoltenberg told the German daily, Welt am Sonntag, "In recent days, we have heard absurd accusations about biological and chemical weapons laboratories." "Now that these fake accusations have been made, we must be watchful because it is likely that Russia may plan chemical weapons operations as a result of these fabrications of lies." That would be a crime against humanity."

What is 'White phosphorus'?

White phosphorus (WP) when interacts with oxygen, ignites and burns, producing a dense white smoke with an unique garlic-like stench. Smoke also obstructs infrared vision and weapon-tracking systems, shielding military units from guided weapons like anti-tank guided missiles.

Wikimedia/US air force/Representational image

According to a report published by Human Rights Watch, military utilise WP munitions largely as a "obscurant" to offer visual covering for ground operations by obscuring troop and armour movement. It can also be employed as an incendiary weapon, burning or "smoking out" enemy people or lighting military targets on fire. Artillery shells, bombs, rockets, and grenades can all be used to disseminate white phosphorus.

White phosphorus weapons can inflict damage in two ways: burns and vapour inhalation, in addition to direct injuries caused by particles of their shells.

It's a UN-prohibited weapon since it's employed in smoke, lights, and during wartime to make bombs more lethal. Its use in open areas is legal under international law, but air-bursting phosphorus over inhabited areas is prohibited since it puts civilians in danger and can result in an indiscriminate attack due to the wide dispersion of burning fragments. This weapon is deadly because it burns quickly when it comes into contact with air, resulting in tremendous heat and poisonous smoke that can instantly kill a person.

Its fragments, according to reports, penetrate deep into the human body. In such a scenario, even if an individual receives care after a phosphorus burn, his possibilities of survival are poor. Their particles continue to burn until they burn out or run out of oxygen.

History of white phosphorus

White phosphorus, in the form of a carbon disulfide compound, is believed to have been first employed by Irish nationalist arsonists in the 19th century. The phosphorus would burst into flames when the carbon disulfide evaporated. "Fenian fire" was the name given to this concoction.

Police in Sydney, Australia, arrested 12 industrial workers for using illegal chemicals in 1916, just before World War I broke out. White phosphorus was also alleged to have been employed by these individuals. However, by 1920, the vast majority of those accused had been released.

According to reports, white phosphorus was widely utilised throughout both the First and Second World Wars. During World War I, the British Army initially showed a factory-made WP grenade in late 1916. During World War I, the military of the United States, Commonwealth countries, and Japan utilised a number of white phosphorus bombs. During the Iraqi insurgency of 1920, the Royal Air Force stationed in Iraq used phosphorus bombs on Anbar Province. Phosphorus was frequently utilised in mortars, shells, rockets, and grenades by this time.

When the Nazi invasion of the British island nation became likely in 1940, it was believed that Albright and Wilson, a phosphorus manufacturer, offered that the British authorities use a material akin to Fenian fire in numerous expedient incendiary weapons. These were rapidly fielded anti-tank weapons in 1940, when the British were bracing for a possible German invasion after losing the majority of their modern weapons in the Dunkirk evacuation.

Phosphorus weapons were then widely utilised in Korea, Vietnam, and afterwards by Russian troops in the First and Second Chechen Battles. According to GlobalSecurity.org, every fourth or fifth Russian artillery or mortar shell fired during the Battle of Grozny during the First Chechen War in Chechnya was a WP shell.

Apart from that, the US Army employed the WP bomb heavily in the Iraq War. During the Arab-Israeli dispute, Israel was also blamed for employing white phosphorus. White phosphorus munitions were also used by the US military in Afghanistan in 2009.

Ythisnews/Representational image

During the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian forces allegedly launched 122 mm white phosphorus artillery against Azerbaijani territory. Armenia, on the other hand, has flatly refused to utilise it. Even during the Syrian Civil War, the US accused Russian forces of firing white phosphorous bombs in Aleppo.

International law regarding their use

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multinational convention that prohibits the use of chemical weapons and mandates their disposal within a certain time frame. Chemical weapons development, manufacturing, acquisition, stockpiling, and retention are all prohibited under the agreement. Furthermore, supporting other states in engaging in actions prohibited by the CWC is forbidden.

Aside from the CWC, the Australia Group aims to prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons. The use of chemical weapons by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War inspired the founding of the Australian Group in 1985. Coordination of national export control measures aids participants of the Australia Group in fulfilling their obligations under the CWC and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

WP munitions, on the other hand, are not classified as chemical weapons under the CWC because their primary goal is to produce dense smoke that can conceal military operations or identify targets.

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