With the slowdown in its progress in its attack on Ukraine, Russia began using new weapons described as "dirty", and it may resort to using other types as the war continues. What are the most dangerous Russian weapons known?
This is what journalist Simon Pettit tried to shed light on in a report in the Swiss newspaper "Lotan" (Le Temps), in which he explained that Russia possesses 6 types of dangerous prohibited weapons.
At the beginning of his report, Pettit highlighted the Russian army's firing of hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine on Sunday, and Moscow's official announcement of this.
He said that Moscow boasts that these weapons - which have been tested since 2018 but have never been used on the battlefield - thanks to their speed are impossible to intercept, which experts doubt, according to the writer.
But Pettit stressed that Russia possesses other destructive weapons, which it may be inclined to use to break the Ukrainian resistance, and presented 6 examples of them in ascending order of horror, as he described.
First: cluster munitions or low-precision weapons
Pettit credits the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch with accusing Russian forces of having bombed the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv with cluster bombs on three occasions: on March 7, 11, and 13.
The organization added that the most recent of these attacks resulted in the killing of 9 civilians, apparently, who were queuing outside an ATM, the NGO wrote.
It stated that the warhead fired by the Russian artillery at Mykolaev shredded in flight, and dozens of small bombs flew out of it that could kill in an area the size of a football field.
She said that the experience of other conflicts, in which the United States in Iraq and Israel in Lebanon used these munitions, showed that they had a high rate of errors.
The writer mentioned that these weapons, like landmines, are banned in all countries of the world, but some countries, such as the United States, China, India, as well as Russia and Ukraine, have not ratified the international agreement in 2008 banning these weapons.
Second: white phosphorous that burns bodies
On March 13, Ukraine accused Russia of bombing a city in the Donbas region with white phosphorous, without providing any evidence for this.
These weapons, according to the author, are not new, as they were used for the first time in the First World War, and then were used by the United States in the Vietnam War.
Phosphorous ignites on contact with air, producing intense light and thick smoke, which results in terrible burns. International law prohibits the use of these weapons, but only in densely populated areas. However, Russia ignored this in 1999, as it was used under the leadership of young President Vladimir Putin. Weapons in Chechnya, the capital Grozny was bombed with them, and this had a great psychological impact.
Third: Thermal weapons... the nightmare of Ukrainian cities
Russia has deployed vehicles with thermal weapon launchers in Ukraine, as evidenced by photos taken on the Belarus-Ukraine border on the first day of the Russian offensive, and reports of their use in this war are increasing.
These projectiles contain fuel that ignites on contact with air, resulting in a ball of flame that literally sucks the oxygen out of everything alive in the space.
The writer says that the Russian army has already used heat weapons to eliminate any resistance in Grozny. Thermal bombs are especially effective at penetrating bunkers or underground bunkers, and they are especially destructive in urban areas, which is why the residents of Ukrainian cities, who are already under intense bombardment They are haunted by the threat of these weapons.
Despite its danger to all living things, international law does not prohibit its use, according to the author.
Fourth: Chemical weapons and the American "red line".
The writer draws here to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's warning last Thursday to Russia against using chemical weapons against Ukraine.
He says that US intelligence was right when it revealed Russia's preparations to attack Ukraine, "Does it have elements that indicate that Moscow is preparing for a possible use of these weapons," the writer wonders.
He points out here that Russia, as is the case with all countries in the world, has ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, and Moscow even says that it finished destroying its stockpiles in 2017.
Fifth: Biological weapons... the target of all illusions
Washington and Moscow accuse each other of dark schemes with regard to biological weapons, and Russia has accused Ukrainian laboratories of developing biological weapons in cooperation with the Americans.
Indeed, on March 11, the Russian ambassador raised the issue of Ukraine using migratory birds or bats as possible vectors at the United Nations Security Council, very seriously, which is also not based on evidence.
Russia and the United States signed a biological weapons convention in 1972, but this treaty does not prohibit research in this area for defensive purposes.
Sixth: Tactical nuclear bombs.. the last threshold before the end of the world
Pettit says that from the early days of the war on Ukraine, Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons and raised the alert level of Russia's nuclear forces, without knowing what that exactly means, as this apparatus is on permanent alert by virtue of its mission.
Although Russia has never used this weapon and says it is keeping it only in response to any similar attack on Russia, Putin's words cast doubt on the use of these weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Pettit considered that the distinction between these tactical nuclear weapons and strategic missiles capable of traveling thousands of kilometers to deter other nuclear powers is absurd and dangerous, according to nuclear experts, since these tactical bombs are in fact just as destructive as those dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
Although experts doubt that Putin might resort to nuclear pressure, they maintain that Russian nuclear blackmail has occurred, preventing the United States and its European allies from getting more involved in defending Ukraine, which is "under a flood of hell," Pettit says.