Russian thermobaric munition discovered in Donbas

A Russian-produced, rocket-propelled projectile used exclusively by Russian armed forces was found in the war zone of Donbas, the Ukrainian military reported on Feb. 20.

The munition, namely a TBG-7V round with a thermobaric warhead used with RPG-7V grenade launchers, was detected during mine clearance work near the cross-frontline entry point of Stanytsya Luhanska in Luhansk Oblast.

According to a service marking, the munition was produced in 2003.

“The mentioned projectile is not manufactured in Ukraine and is operated not by the Ukrainian armed forces but by the Russian army, exclusively,” the message reads.

“The inquiry says the ordnance of this type is used by members of Russia’s armed formations and the occupation administration in Luhansk Oblast as part of their armed aggression against the Armed Fores of Ukraine.”

The TBG-7V munitions featuring thermobaric warheads were designed in the late 1980s by the Moscow-based bureau Bazalt, which works nowadays as a major arms-producing joint stock company.

The munition was designed to be launched from specialized versions of RPG-7 man-portable grenade launchers (namely RPG-7V1 and RGP-7D2 with sight scopes) which are still widely used in wars across the world, including in Donbas.

TBG-7V munitions are designed to enhance the ability of small infantry formations to quickly destroy heavily-protected targets such as field fortifications or light armored vehicles in close combat.

The Soviet designers managed to develop the special 105-millimeter thermobaric grenade, which, when detonating at its target, creates a hyperthermal gas cloud and high pressure that generates a powerful shock wave and a сascade of deadly fragments.

The exploding gas cloud has a tendency to flow into the tiniest cracks of foxholes, trenches or bunkers, thus leaving little chance of survival for enemy manpower within 10 meters of the explosion.

As a result, an operator can destroy an enemy pillbox even if he misses the fortification’s gunpoint by one or two meters. According to designers, the effectiveness of a TBG-7V round is equal to that of a 122-millimeter high-explosive fragmenting artillery shell.

As the Ukrainian military added in their Feb. 20 communique, the disclosed munition was registered as evidence that Russia is waging an invasive war that violates international humanitarian law.