Ukraine fears Putin will launch FAB-3000 megabomb on Mariupol

The FAB-3000 is a 3,000-kilogram unguided bomb, which was designed primarily for the destruction of industrial, urban and port facilities. This type of bomb was used by the Soviet bombers, the Tupolev Tu-16 and the Tupolev Tu-22M, during the Afghan war in the 1980s.

With an explosive mass of 1,400 kilograms and a potential destruction radius of 46 meters, as well as a fragment dispersion radius of 260 meters, the FAB-3000 was one of the largest bombs in the Soviet arsenal.

The mayor's councillor, Petro Andriushchenko, warned about the arrival of the TU bombers, which - in his opinion - indicates the intention to “launch an assault on the Azovstal steel bastion and the port, after unloading high-powered bombs such as the FAB-3000 and others”.

Unconfirmed photographs shared by users on Telegram on April 6, 2022, show a Soviet-made bomb, the FAB-3000, next to the Tu-22M strategic bomber of the Russian Air Force. A brief description of the photograph says that the bomb is being prepared by Russian forces to hit Azovstal, one of the largest steel plants in Europe, which has already been severely damaged when Russia besieged the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol in March 2022.

Having suffered the brunt of sustained air strikes by the Russian army, Mariupol, a strategic coastal city on the Sea of Azov, has become one of the cities most bombed and damaged in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While Russian troops seek full control of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces continue to resist attacks in the southern part of the damaged city, at the Azovstal plant and its surroundings.

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky warned that “the elimination” of Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol, a city besieged by Russia, would “end any peace negotiations” with Moscow.

“The elimination of our military, of our men in Mariupol will put an end to any peace negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine, Zelensky said during an interview with the Ukraïnska Pravda website, in which he also warned that both sides would find themselves in a “dead end”.

The attacks by Russian forces on Mariupol have provoked a brutal siege, cutting off food, water, fuel and medicines and destroying homes and businesses.

A few days ago, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, said that more than 90% of local infrastructure had been destroyed and that more than 5,000 civilians, including 210 children, had died during the weeks of Russian bombing and street fighting.

For their part, British defence officials claimed that up to 160,000 civilians remained trapped in the city, which had a population of 430,000 people before the war.

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