Russian forces claim to have deployed FAB-3000 glide bomb for first time

Editor's note: The article was updated with a comment by Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash.

The Russian military has allegedly attacked Kharkiv Oblast with a FAB-3000 high-explosive aerial bomb, Russian sources claimed on June 20.

A video shared by a pro-Kremlin blogger purports to show Russian bombers striking a Ukrainian military target in the village of Liptsy in Kharkiv Oblast.

The blogger, who reportedly has ties to the Russian Air Force, claims the footage records the first combat use of a FAB-3000 M-54 bomb with a universal planning and correction module (UMPK).

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims at the time of publication.

Russian forces have previously attacked Kharkiv Oblast with high-explosive aerial bombs amid Moscow's intensified attacks and new offensive against the region in spring 2024.

Kharkiv Oblast police reported that Russian forces attacked the Kupiansk district on May 5 with a FAB-1500 air-dropped bomb, the first time a 1,500-kilogram bomb had been used since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The strike killed an 88-year-old woman and injured a 34-year-old man.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in March that it had begun mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs.

The June 20 video claims to show a FAB-3000 bomb striking the end of a building used by the Ukrainian army as a temporary deployment point (TDP). The post accompanying the video explains that the bomb did not succeed in making a direct hit on the target but still caused massive damage.

Ukraine cannot confirm that Russia used the bomb, Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash said in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.

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