Russia loses 100 heavy flamethrowers, including Solntsepyok and Buratino (video)
Photo: Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system (facebook.com/sergey.bratchuk)
The Russian army has already lost 100 heavy flamethrower systems since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This list includes the well-known TOS-1 Buratino, TOS-1A Solntsepyok, and the newer TOS-2 Tosochka systems on a wheeled chassis.
"What kind of heavy flamethrower systems do the Russian invaders have? These are Buratino (TOS-1) - the first version, Solntsepyok (TOS-1A) - modernized, and Tosochka (TOS-2) - on a wheeled chassis," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained.
In 2024, a public demonstration of the new TOS-3 Drakon (Dragon) tracked flamethrower system, developed by Omsktransmash, was held for propaganda purposes. Its future is unknown.
The Unmanned Systems Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces released a video of the destruction of some of these combat vehicles.
About Solntsepyok
This is a Russian heavy flamethrower system of 220 mm caliber, adopted in 2001. The system includes:
- a combat vehicle with a tank-based launcher,
- two transport and reloading vehicles,
- unguided rockets.
The system is designed to destroy enemy manpower, fortifications, and light vehicles with thermobaric charges.
About Buratino
This is a Soviet heavy 220 mm caliber multiple launcher system on the T-72 tank chassis. Armed with 30 unguided thermobaric missiles, it is designed to destroy enemy manpower, equipment, and fortifications at a distance of up to 3.5 km.
It was first used in Afghanistan, then in Chechnya, Syria, and Ukraine. Due to its extreme destructiveness and area of damage, the use of Buratino may constitute a violation of humanitarian law.
About Tosochka
In 2023, Russia boasted that it had started using its modernized TOS-2 Tosochka on the battlefield. For the first time, a Ukrainian drone recorded this vehicle on the battlefield a year ago.
"The TOS-2 Tosochka is a further development of the heavy flamethrower systems of the TOS type that Russia uses on the battlefield in Ukraine - TOS-1 Buratino/TOS-1A Solntsepyok.
The TOS-2 Tosochka system was first demonstrated in Russia during the Caucasus exercise in 2020.
Successes of Ukrainian soldiers
In March 2025, drone operators destroyed a heavy flamethrower system, Solntsepyok. The enemy tried to hide it a few dozen kilometers from the front line.
In February, the military destroyed a rare Russian Tosochka MLRS for the first time at the front. It happened in the Pokrovsk sector.
Earlier, Ukrainian border guards also destroyed an enemy TOS Solntsepyok in the Kharkiv region. The Russian equipment was struck by pilots of the Phoenix reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle unit.
