On 24 February, Russia went to war against Ukraine. It is now the 25th day of their full-scale invasion. In this series of materials, we will be collecting evidence of the presence and use of Russian specific military equipment in the war with Ukraine.
Seen in the photo is “Buratino”, or “Blazing Sun” – a Russian vacuum bomb launcher. Formal name: TOS-1 “Buratino” (Russian ТОС-1 «Буратино» / «Солнцепек» (abbrev. from Russian “тяжёлая огнемётная система” (“heavy flamethrower system”)). Used to incapacitate light-armored vehicles, destroy buildings with a fuel-air explosion, kill people in the open. Blazing Sun’s impact is a field of high temperature and pressure resulting from the mass launch of unguided rockets.
more actual news in our Telegram-channel and Twitter
On 26 February, Belarus colleagues from Flagshtok wrote that projectiles for heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1A “Blazing Sun” were being carried by trains in Gomel.
The system itself was spotted in the fields of Chernihiv region on 1 March 2022, as reported by journalist Tsaplienko in his Telegram channel.
There are alsoevidencesof this system having been used during the war in Donbas: according to the OSCE SMM report of 28 September 2015, TOS-1 “Buratino” was recorded on 25 September 2015 at a test site near residential area of Kruhlyk (31 km southwest of Luhansk, Eastern Ukraine). .
Russian media are also actively writing about them. Thus, on 20 March, they actively disseminated videos showing shots from the Blazing Sun, reporting they were “firing at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine. We continue to follow the development of the situation. If you have information about Russian troops movement or any other information you want to share with us, email us via [email protected] or text in telegram on @JavelinSt. For particularly sensitive data – reach out, we will send more encrypted channels.
You can also join the project, become a volunteer, author or support the project. Here you can find out how