Shocking twist: Ukrainian missile caused market tragedy VIDEO

Shocking twist: Ukrainian missile caused market tragedy VIDEO

Index.hr reminds that the rocket attack on that city in the east of Ukraine was one of the deadliest in the last few months. At least 15 civilians were killed and more than 30 were wounded. The rocket hit the market, and pieces of metal with which the warhead was loaded pierced windows and walls. Some victims were wounded beyond recognition.

Fifteen people, including a child, were killed in the blast, which took place on a busy market street in the middle of the day.

Kostyantynivka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, is near the front line.

Less than two hours later, President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russian “terrorists” for the attack, and many media outlets followed suit.

However, an investigation by The New York Times, which collected and analyzed missile fragments, satellite images, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system.

Air defense experts say missiles like the one that hit the market can go off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or a guidance fin that is damaged or sheared off at the time of launch.

It all suggests that a Ukrainian missile failed to hit its intended target and landed in a bustling street, with devastating consequences.

Ukrainian artillery fire from the city was reported in a local Telegram group just minutes before the strike on the market.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s armed forces said the country’s security service is investigating the incident, and under national law can’t comment further.

Ukrainian authorities initially tried to prevent journalists with The Times from accessing the missile debris and impact area in the strike’s immediate aftermath. But the reporters were eventually able to get to the scene, interview witnesses and collect remnants of the weapon used. Security camera footage shows that the missile flew into Kostiantynivka from the direction of Ukrainian-held territory, not from behind Russian lines.

As the sound of the approaching missile is heard, at least four pedestrians appear to simultaneously turn their heads toward the incoming sound. They face the camera — in the direction of Ukrainian-held territory. Moments before it strikes, the missile’s reflection is visible as it passes over two parked cars, showing it traveling from the northwest.

The missile’s warhead detonates a few yards above the ground shortly before impact, blasting metal fragments outward. The resulting crater and damage extending from the point of detonation is consistent with a missile coming from a northwesterly route, according to an explosives expert and a Times analysis.

Further evidence reveals that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military launched two surface-to-air missiles toward the Russian front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 16 kilometers northwest of Kostiantynivka.

Reporters with The Times were in Druzhkivka when they heard an outgoing missile launch at 2 p.m., followed a few minutes later by a second. By chance, one member of the team recorded the first launch in a voice message.

Residents in Druzhkivka also reported an outgoing launch at that time on a local Telegram group. “One more,” a post at 2:03 p.m. said, referring to a second missile launch.

Locals near the launches described them as abnormally loud, beyond the sounds of war they have become accustomed to, which tracks with witness accounts of past Buk launches.

The timing of these launches is consistent with the time frame for the missile that struck the market in Kostiantynivka, around 2:04 p.m. local time.

Additionally, two witnesses who spoke to The Times said they saw the missiles being fired from Druzhkivka in the direction of the Russian front line around the time of the strike; one of them said he saw the missiles going in the direction of Kostiantynivka.

A Ukrainian soldier stationed in Druzhkivka, who asked to remain anonymous, also said he heard two missile launches at around the same time.

One of the witnesses also said the missiles were launched from fields on the outskirts of the town, a place residents say is used by the Ukrainian military and from which they have previously seen air defense missiles.

Times reporters who visited the site saw indications that it had recently been used by the military, including trenches, trash pits and wide tracks consistent with a large military vehicle.

Another key indicator: scorch marks.

Analysis of before-and-after satellite imagery shows new scorch marks around the trenches on the day of the strike, possibly indicating that the site was used for launching missiles, the New York Times reported.