Creator of Russia's deadly flamethrower system found dead in Moscow
In Moscow, former commander of Russia’s Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense, Stanislav Petrov, has been found dead. Preliminary reports suggest he died by suicide, according to RIA Novosti.
The body of the 87-year-old general was discovered on the morning of May 4 in his apartment in the central district of Moscow, in the so-called House on the Embankment. He was found at around 7 a.m., with a pistol lying nearby. Investigators are treating suicide as the main line of inquiry.
What is known about the general
Stanislav Petrov was the last commander of the Soviet Union’s chemical defense troops. After the collapse of the USSR, he led the newly formed Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense of Russia, which he commanded until 2001. He also played a key role in the development of the TOS-1 Buratino heavy flamethrower system.
After leaving active service, Petrov moved into scientific work. He worked at a military institute and served as editor-in-chief of a specialized publication.
Petrov also worked as a chief research fellow at the 27th Scientific Center. This Russian institution is under sanctions from Ukraine, the EU, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada due to its involvement in the development and use of chemical substances for military purposes.
What is known about the TOS-1 Buratino
The TOS-1 Buratino is a Soviet heavy flamethrower system of 220 mm caliber mounted on a T-72 tank chassis. It is equipped with 30 unguided thermobaric rockets and is designed to destroy enemy personnel, equipment, and fortifications at a range of up to 3.5 km.
It was first used in Afghanistan and later in Chechnya, Syria, and Ukraine. Due to its extreme destructive power and wide area of effect, the use of the Buratino system may constitute a violation of humanitarian law.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has issued in absentia notices of suspicion against Russian generals and a vice admiral who commanded a missile strike on the Faktor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv on May 23, 2024.
In addition, former SBU department head Volodymyr Lyapkin was killed in the war. After the Maidan, he switched sides and took part in repressive actions in the occupied parts of the Kherson region.
