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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s forces of using phosphorus bombs in their latest wave of attacks on his country, telling NATO leaders in Brussels that \u201cpeople were killed,\u201d including children.
\u201cEurope is going through a war, every day of which is full of war crimes of Russian troops,\u201d Zelenskyy said, according to an NBC News translation. \u201cThis morning, I received information that Russian troops had used phosphorus bombs against civilians in Ukraine.\u201d
He did not provide evidence in his address, and the Pentagon said it was not able to confirm the Ukrainian leader\u2019s allegation when contacted by NBC News. It is difficult to verify the claims without U.S. personnel on the ground, three U.S. defense officials said.
But if true, the use of white phosphorus bombs would add a disturbing new dimension to Russia\u2019s military assault on Ukraine. Here\u2019s a general overview of their destructive potential.
The white form of the chemical substance phosphorus is highly toxic and \u201cnotorious for the severity of the injuries it causes,\u201d according to information compiled by Human Rights Watch, a leading watchdog organization.
White phosphorus ignites on contact with oxygen and is highly soluble in fat, meaning it grievously burns human flesh.
\u201cIf it lands on somebody, it burns very, very vigorously,\u201d said Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commander of the United Kingdom’s and NATO\u2019s chemical, biological and nuclear defense forces.
Munitions \u2014 artillery shells, bombs, rockets, mortars \u2014 containing white phosphorus operate similarly to incendiary weapons as defined by Protocol III to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons:\u00a0
They set fires and cause burns \u201cthrough the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target.\u201d
The use of white phosphorus is not outright banned under international weapons law.\u00a0
It is not illegal for militaries to possess it, and armed forces around the world (including U.S. troops) have said they use it to mark a target or create a smokescreen, according to David E. Johnson, a military expert with the Rand Corp.
But like all weapons, it is illegal to use against civilian targets, and the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons in populated areas is prohibited under Protocol III, Johnson said.
\u201cGoing after civilian targets indiscriminately is the biggest war crime there is, no matter what the weapon,\u201d he said.
Human Rights Watch says munitions containing white phosphorus have been deployed \u201crepeatedly\u201d over the last 15 years, including by U.S. and U.K. forces in Iraq; American-led coalition forces against Islamic State terrorist group’s militants in Iraq and Syria in 2017; and by Israel in Gaza in 2008-09.
Syrian forces (with Putin\u2019s support) have used white phosphorus to set fire to towns and villages, de Bretton-Gordon said, describing \u201chorrendous images from northeast Syria last year of children being terribly, badly burned.\u201d
White phosphorus munitions have also been used by Saudi Arabian-led coalition forces in Yemen in 2016; by NATO-allied security forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2011; and by Ethiopian forces in Somalia in 2007, according to Human Rights Watch.
Daniel Arkin is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on popular culture and the entertainment industry, particularly film and television.
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