Chema Cabrero builds a ‘whatif’ TOS 1 Buratino as captured by Ukrainian Forces.

KIT: SP DESIGNS

SCALE: I/35

And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

(Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818)

Shelley’s poem, first published in 1818, takes its title from the Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) and is about the hubris and arrogance of a tyrant who thought his empire would endure forever. It made me think about the hubris of Putin and what led him to invade Ukraine in February 2022. However the war ends, it has revealed this essential truth and like Ozymandias before him, I hope Putin looks on what he has done and despairs.

The TOS-1 Buratino is a Soviet 220mm 30-barrel multiple rocket launcher mounted on a T-72 chassis, capable of discharging thermobaric warheads. It was designed to engage fortified positions and lightly armoured vehicles, particularly in open terrain. The TOS-1 is not assigned to artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces but is found in Russian NBC Protection Troops. The name ‘TOS’ is an acronym: ‘Tyazhëlaya Ognemëtnaya System’ (trans. ‘heavy flamethrower system’), while ‘Buratino’ is a reference to Aleksey Tolstoy’s 1936 fictional character (inspired by Collodi’s Pinocchio). The system was tested as long ago as 1989 in the Panjshir Valley during the Soviet-Afghan War, and it also took part in the 1999/2000 campaign in Chechnya, where it proved to be particularly useful in urban environments.The TOS-1A Solntsepyok (Object 634B) is a is 24-barrel multiple launch rocket system delivering thermobarbaric rockets. This version was first used by Iraqi forces in 2014 against ISIS insurgents. The range of the rockets was increased in 2020 to some 10km and this is the version deployed by the Russians in Ukraine. It is estimated that as many 200 TOS-1s have been built. At least seven of these weapons have been destroyed by the Ukrainians and a further three captured. They have subsequently been displayed as war booty in the Ukrainian capital and one has reportedly been used against its former owners.