It was purportedly (and probably in actuality) intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness, although allegedly was intended as a defensive weapon against in-space attacks by the US space program.
I guess today is a learning day for all of us! I knew gunpowder contained nitrates, but I didn’t realize that was its purpose, or that it allowed it to work in a vacuum.
basically all explosives are fuel combined with it’s own oxidizer