[News in War History] The Identity of Ukraine War's Worst Weapon 'Devil's Rain'... White Phosphorus Bomb

Flamethrower Weapons Appeared Since the Medieval Era
White Phosphorus Bombs Used as Weapons of Mass Destruction in Urban Areas
Ignored Despite Being Banned by International Law

Editor's Note[News in War History] is a content series created to provide multifaceted perspectives on the constantly unfolding war and conflict news worldwide. Through 'News,' we first understand the current situation; through 'History,' we analyze the hidden meanings behind the news; and we also offer 'Implications' for the near future. We visit you every Sunday and plan to publish a book after 40 episodes.

Since the end of last year, as the Ukraine war has fallen into a severe stalemate, concerns in the international community have grown amid allegations from both Russia and Ukraine that the other side has used "white phosphorus munitions," known as a devil's weapon.

White phosphorus munitions are a type of incendiary bomb that burns everything within the target area, including humans and buildings. Particularly, white phosphorus used for lethal purposes is toxic in its manufacturing substance itself, causing severe damage to the area even after operations, leading to expected massive civilian casualties.

In fact, white phosphorus munitions are used more frequently than strategic weapons like nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles, which are difficult to deploy in actual combat, and are used worldwide, making them known as far more harmful weapons. In this article, we will explore the issue and history of white phosphorus munitions use, which has emerged as a serious international problem.

◆News: Ukraine Claims Russia Used White Phosphorus on Eastern Bakhmut Front

On the 6th (local time), the civilian area of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is seen burning due to an attack by Russian forces. Ukraine accuses the Russian military of using white phosphorus munitions to set civilian areas on fire. [Image source=Ukraine Ministry of Defense Twitter]

Let's first look at the news. On the 6th (local time), the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense posted on its official Twitter account that Russian forces used white phosphorus munitions in the civilian residential area of Bakhmut, revealing images of the burning city. According to the British BBC, the location appears to be near a children's hospital in the western part of downtown Bakhmut and is presumed to have been filmed by a drone.

The burning city seems to have been attacked with incendiary bombs. Russia has already launched many incendiary attacks across the eastern front of Ukraine. However, BBC reported that it is unclear whether white phosphorus was used.

The white phosphorus mentioned here is a type of incendiary bomb that uses white phosphorus, an allotrope of phosphorus (P), as its main ingredient. When exposed to oxygen, it ignites, producing intense heat, flashes, and smoke, causing fatal damage to the human body. The fire is difficult to extinguish and reignites even when water is applied, making it a dangerous weapon that requires rapid amputation of the affected body parts once combustion starts.

Especially, the use of incendiary bombs in civilian residential areas or densely populated civilian facilities is prohibited under international law. Therefore, if the fire was caused by Russian incendiary or white phosphorus attacks as Ukraine claims, international criticism is expected to intensify. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) prohibit the use of incendiary weapons against civilians under international law.

However, the regulation only restricts use against civilians; it does not ban their use as offensive weapons against military personnel in operational areas. Incendiary bombs and white phosphorus, which were widely used after World War I, have been common weapons on almost all battlefields and are considered very cost-effective weapons.

◆History 1: Used Since the 9th Century BC, the Still Mysterious 'Greek Fire'

A 12th-century illustration depicting 'Greek Fire,' a flamethrower widely used at sea during the medieval period.
[Image source: Biblioteca Nacional de Espa?a]

To understand when white phosphorus munitions first appeared on the battlefield, we must trace back to the early history of incendiary weapons in general, which includes white phosphorus munitions. Incendiary weapons broadly refer to fire-based weapons used to burn enemy troops, fortifications, or castles.

Incendiary weapons originated around the 9th century BC in the Middle East, where flammable materials like tar and sulfur were readily available in open oil fields. They were used to attack enemy villages and castles by applying these flammable substances to arrows or spears and throwing them to ignite fires.

Weapons that cause fires or emit flames for lethal purposes, similar to modern incendiary weapons, are believed to have originated from the "Greek Fire," a flamethrower actively used by the Eastern Roman Empire around the 7th century AD. This weapon was so crucial that it was considered the main pillar supporting the Eastern Roman Empire's existence for over 1,000 years.

According to the chronicle of Theophanes, a historian of the Eastern Roman Empire, the flamethrower was first created around 670 AD by Calicinus, an architect and chemist of the empire. It is said to have been made by mixing sulfur, tin, pitch, and resin, but the exact manufacturing technique remains unknown to this day. The manufacturing process was a closely guarded secret, known only to a few technicians within the empire, and was lost after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453.

In China, during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period following the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the 10th century AD, a flamethrower similar to Greek Fire called "Menghuayugui (猛火油櫃)" existed. This weapon is also mentioned in the famous Song Dynasty military manual, Wujing Zongyao (武經總要).

These early flamethrowers could only be used effectively when the wind blew favorably towards friendly forces due to technological limitations at the time. However, once a person caught fire, it was difficult to extinguish with water, and if the wind direction was right, they could inflict massive damage on the enemy, demonstrating functionality similar to modern incendiary weapons.

◆History 2: Used as a Mass Destruction Weapon After World War I... Emerged as a Cost-Effective Weapon

During World War II in 1943, the U.S. military launched a white phosphorus attack on a Japanese military airfield in the Solomon Islands occupied by Japanese forces. [Image source: U.S. Army]

Over centuries of development, incendiary weapons evolved into perfect mass destruction weapons with the advent of incendiary bombs and white phosphorus munitions after World War I. During World War I, the British military produced various toxic chemical weapons, including chlorine gas, to break through enemy trenches, among which was the white phosphorus grenade.

The early white phosphorus grenades were first deployed in combat in 1916. They were thrown as glass bottles containing white phosphorus and benzene, similar to Molotov cocktails. When the bottle broke, the phosphorus oxidized and ignited immediately, and the sticky benzene made it difficult to remove, causing severe burns as a lethal weapon.

During World War II, white phosphorus munitions were mounted on bombers and dropped in large quantities on major cities, causing massive casualties. The U.S. military extensively used them during air raids on German and Japanese cities. The tactic involved bombers first damaging buildings in urban areas, followed by fighter planes dropping white phosphorus munitions to induce mass casualties.

One of the most heavily affected cities was Cologne in western Germany, famous for its Cologne Cathedral. From April to May 1945, about two months of bombing resulted in over 130,000 civilian deaths. Due to the enormous civilian casualties in various regions, the use of white phosphorus and incendiary weapons in civilian residential areas was banned under international law after World War II. However, many countries easily violated this ban, causing significant damage.

◆Implication: International Law Collapses Before Actual Combat

In 2009, the Israeli military launched a white phosphorus attack on a UN school in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Two people died and 14 were seriously injured. [Image source= Human Rights Watch (HRW)]

White phosphorus munitions are still widely used not only in Ukraine but also in major conflict zones worldwide, including the Middle East and Africa. Despite being called a devil's weapon causing more horrific damage than other incendiary weapons, white phosphorus is used even more frequently because it serves as a smoke screen to obscure enemy vision.

In the Ukraine war, both Russian and Ukrainian forces are known to use it on various battlefields. The official reason is to block enemy artillery and air strikes by obscuring vision, but in reality, it is used indiscriminately against both soldiers and civilians. The Russian military denies allegations of civilian attacks raised by Ukraine or, even when clear evidence exists, attributes incidents to misfires or malfunctioning aircraft to evade responsibility.

Ultimately, international law, which has very limited means to enforce actual punishment for war crimes, is utterly disregarded in the face of real combat. In the modern international situation, which is increasingly reverting to a survival-of-the-fittest era, this teaches us that states must have stronger deterrence against enemy countries to protect powerless civilians.