On September 29, 2022, a video was released on Twitter showing the use of local-made Cheburashka 217mm MLRS thermobaric rocket launcher vehicles by soldiers from Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), who fight with the Russian army in Ukraine, to target the Ukrainian army frontline positions in the Donbas.
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The Cheburashka 217mm MLRS can fire thermobaric rockets, one of the most destructive conventional ammunition in the world. (Picture source Video footage)
The Cheburashka is a 217mm MLRS (Multiple Rocket launcher System) that was for the first time to the public in May 2018. Currently, two vehicles are in service with the Russian separatist forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR). It has already been used several times since 2018 in battles against the Ukrainian army
The Cheburashka MLRS can fire thermobaric rocket which is considered as the most destructive conventional ammunition. Thermobaric munitions are those munitions that, by design, produce more heat and overpressure than conventional explosives by exploding a vapor in the blast zone. Their medical effect is principally primary blast and they affect organs where there is a tissue interface of varying densities, such as the lungs, bowel, and inner ear. The thermobaric rockets are also fired by the TOS-1A flamethrower 220mm MLRS which is also used by Russian troops deployed in Ukraine.
According to our first analysis of the vehicle, the Cheburashka MLRS is based on a KrAZ-260 6x6 military truck chassis with two launcher pods mounted at the rear of the truck chassis. Each pod consists of 32 tube launchers with four layers each with 8 tubes.
The Cheburashka MLRS is able to launch thermobaric rockets at a range of up 9,600 m
