Residents near Dimitrov, close to Krasnoarmeysk (known in Ukraine as Pokrovsk), were shaken after Russian aircraft carried out a powerful strike using one of their heaviest conventional bombs, the FAB-3000.
A short clip posted by the Stepnoy Veter (Steppe Wind) Telegram channel captured the moment the bomb hit, showing a massive flash and rising smoke cloud that viewers immediately compared to something far beyond a normal explosion.
“Now that,” the channel wrote, “is exactly what a mini-nuclear blast looks like.”
A Strike That Left a Towering Cloud
This wasn’t the first such strike caught on camera recently.
Earlier footage from Mirnograd showed another FAB-3000 slamming into a high-rise building said to have been used by Ukrainian troops.
Moments after impact, a thick grey column stretched upward as debris scattered across the surrounding area.
The scale of the explosion once again drew comments about the bomb’s extreme power, which remains among the most devastating non-nuclear weapons in Russia’s arsenal.
What Makes the FAB-3000 So Destructive
For those unfamiliar with it, the FAB-3000 — short for Fugasnaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba or high-explosive aircraft bomb — is designed to do one thing exceptionally well: erase heavily fortified or large-scale targets.
It relies purely on raw explosive force rather than nuclear components, but the size of its blast often leads witnesses to compare it to something much more catastrophic.
Breaking Down the Bomb’s Specs
Although its design dates back decades, the FAB-3000 has been heavily modernized.
With the addition of UMPK glide-and-guidance kits, it can now be released from a considerable distance, gliding dozens of kilometers before hitting its mark with far better precision than older free-fall versions.
Key Characteristics
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Type: High-explosive aerial bomb
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Weight: Roughly 3,000 kg
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Explosive content: Around 1.2–1.4 tonnes of HE material
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Size: About 3 meters long, 820 mm in diameter
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Structure: Extra-thick steel casing for deep impact and fragmentation
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Carriers: Su-34, Su-24M, and even Tu-22M3 bombers
UMPK Glide-Kit Features
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Range: Up to 50–70 km
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Guidance: Satellite + inertial navigation
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Accuracy: Far superior to the standard drop version
The Impact on the Ground
When a bomb of this size goes off, the effects are severe:
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Entire multi-story buildings can collapse or be gutted by the blast
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Hard-reinforced positions, bunkers, and warehouses are easily shattered
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Thermal flash and shockwave give the explosion its “mini-nuclear” reputation
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Huge craters — often more than 10 meters wide — are left behind
These bombs are typically aimed at hardened military sites, industrial hubs, troop concentrations, or deeply entrenched positions where smaller munitions would struggle to achieve similar results.
A Weapon That Leaves a Mark
Each new piece of footage serves as a reminder of just how much destructive capability is now present on both sides of the conflict.
And with UMPK kits making heavy bombs more accurate and easier to deploy from safer distances, weapons like the FAB-3000 continue to shape the intensity and scale of the strikes seen across the region.
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