What are the phosphorus bombs that Russia is using against Ukraine?

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using phosphorus bombs on the battlefield, most recently this May in the battle near Bakhmut (east) and in the area of ​​the Zaporizhzhya Front (southeast), where they would engage Russian forces this ammunition extremely deadly and difficult to treat.

“I’ve seen them many times,” said Israeli-American military medic David Brymer to EFE, who volunteers in Ukraine, where he teaches soldiers and civilians tactical medicine, and has accompanied his students to the front several times.

Brymer was the victim of one such attack earlier this year, shortly before the January takeover of the city of Soledar, in eastern Donetsk province. Ukraine, by Russian forces, who dropped phosphorus on the position where he was serving Ukrainian fighters, forcing them to retreat.

“Within 24 hours the Russians were in control of that position and we had to move,” Brymer recalls, before describing the effects phosphorus has when it comes into contact with the human body.

The white phosphorus used in these cases is a flammable wax-like substance that falls slowly onto its palm-shaped target. “It’s not like it explodes in 30 seconds and starts burning; it can take 10, 15, 20 minutes to fall on you, which is why you have to decide whether to leave the position or not,” explains Brymer.

Staying in the trenches, he continues, implies almost certain death, either by poisoning or by burns caused by skin contact with this substance, which burns at temperatures of up to 800 degrees Celsius when it comes into contact with oxygen and penetrates the body. to the bone.

“It can melt even steel; if a drop of phosphorus lands on the tank and stays there, it will eventually burn through the hole and go straight throughas long as it gets oxygen,” Brymer points out about the extremely destructive nature of this substance, which is launched by mortars, heavy artillery or other types of explosive munitions.

In addition to burning the body, phosphorus releases a highly toxic gas that fills the trenches into which it is dumped, with potentially fatal consequences for those who occupy them.

Due to its corrosive nature, wounds caused by phosphorus are very difficult to treat. “You have to cut fast, right away,” Brymer says of the only solution to keep it from continuing to penetrate the body.

Applying water seems like an obvious solution for extinguishing a burning substance on the surface of the skin. “But water contains oxygen, and phosphorus burns under water,” warns Brymer.

Israeli-American volunteer consulted several doctors, one of whom has experience in treating injuries caused by the use of this substance in the war in Syriaon the best way to treat these wounds.

“Some of them suggested I start using mud,” he recalls, and since then he has recommended to his students to carry buckets full of moldable mud, like clay, into the trenches in the event of a phosphorus bomb attack.

“At the front, we call it ammunition “chandeliers”says Brymer, who emphasizes the aesthetic beauty of the phosphor drop, especially when used at night: “It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s extremely deadly.”