A missile strike that killed at least 15 people in a Ukrainian market was blamed on Russia. There’s now growing evidence it was fired by Ukraine.
A missile that struck a busy market in Kostyantynivka, east Ukraine, was likely misfired by Ukraine and not the result of a Russian attack, a New York Times analysis found.
The missile struck the town, which is close to where Russian and Ukrainian forces are battling in Bakhmut, on September 6, killing at least 15 and injuring around 30 people.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly afterward blamed the attack on Russia, and the UN and Ukraine’s Western allies condemned the strike.
https://www.businessinsider.com/misfired-ukrainian-missile-struck-market-not-russia-nyt-2023-9?op=1
“This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy said, according to RFERL. He described the missile strike as a deliberate attack on a “peaceful city.”
Video footage and data from the impact site indicate it came from territory to the northwest of Kostyantynivka controlled by Ukraine.
Two Times reporters were in the village of Druzhkivka, 10 miles northwest of Kostiantynivka, and said that shortly after 2 p.m. on September 6 Ukraine launched two surface-to-air missiles. Several eyewitnesses backed the claim. A missile struck Kostiantynivka at 2.04 p.m.
Analysis of shrapnel damage at the impact site is consistent with the missile being a 9M38 launched by a Buk surface-to-air launch system of the kind used by Ukraine and Russia. It is not consistent with Kyiv’s claim it was caused by a Russian S-300 missile.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-nyt-missile-kostyantynivka-market/32599514.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/world/europe/ukraine-missile-kostiantynivka-market.html
h/t 16 Blocks