Putin ‘set to drop 44-tonne Father Of All Bombs’ in Russian blitz of Ukraine

dailystar.co.uk:

Boris Johnson warns that Russian president Vladimir Putin is planning the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, a defence source says Russia’s devastating “Father of All Bombs” will be used in an initial blitz to shock Ukrainians into submission.The source told the Mirror that the massive thermobaric weapon would be used in a first strike to break the Ukrainians' spirit.“The impact will be devastating,” they predicted. “This is almost a psychological weapon and will cause massive casualties as well as damage to tanks.”Russia's so-called "Father of all bombs" is estimated to be about four times as powerful as America’s feared MOAB thermobaric weapon used to devastating effect against ISIS forces in Afghanistan.Thermobaric weapons, sometimes called “vacuum bombs,” are more powerful than conventional high explosive bombs, because they ignite oxygen in the atmosphere to significantly expand the blast radius.After a demonstration of the FOAB in 2007, a Russian state-run TV channel claimed it was four times more powerful than the US version.While believed to be slightly smaller and lighter than its American counterpart the Russian device has a reported destruction radius in the region of 300 metres, with a blast yield of almost 44 tonnes of TNT.The American MOAB has a blast yield of 11 tonnes.Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian armed forces staff, said: "The results of tests of the aviation explosive device that has been created have shown that it is comparable with nuclear weapons in its efficiency and potential”The shooting has already begun in Ukraine.Russian media has announced the deaths of two Ukrainian soldiers that were allegedly part of a “sabotage group” in the government-held region of.