16 people died on the afternoon of September 6th in the Kostiantinivka market, a Ukrainian municipality in Donetsk province on the Bakhmut front in the east of the country. A rocket hit the commercial area, killing civilians and injuring more than 30. The Ukrainian authorities, especially President Volodymyr Zelensky, did not hesitate to blame Russia for the massacre. This was also adopted by Ukrainian and international media, including EL PAÍS and The New York Times. The American newspaper published an investigation on Tuesday in which it concluded that the missile was not a Russian, but a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile.
The New York newspaper has collected visual and physical evidence and witness statements suggesting that the disaster was caused by a missile from a Buk anti-aircraft system that likely malfunctioned. The Buk in the hands of Ukraine are Soviet batteries manufactured in the 70s and 80s of the last century. The newspaper emphasizes that its journalists had access to the crime scene despite the military authorities’ express ban. The Ukrainian armed forces impose strict restrictions on media work on the Donetsk front in the east and the Zaporizhzhia front in the southeast. The high command on the Zaporizhzhia Front explains to EL PAÍS that these restrictions are intended to protect the integrity of journalists and also to maintain the secrecy of their offensive operations.
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In recent days, an analysis of the video from a surveillance camera that recorded the moment of the missile impact had appeared on social networks such as X (formerly Twitter). The video was shared by Zelensky himself, accompanied by a particularly harsh message: “Anyone in the world who continues to associate themselves with everything that is Russian simply does not know the reality.” It is a vile evil. The obvious evil, the complete inhumanity.” Analysis of the video, carried out in part by prominent war commentators, revealed that, according to its trajectory, the missile did not come from the Russian lines, but from the Ukrainian rear.
Kostiantinivka is just 10 kilometers from the zero line of fighting and artillery exchanges are constant, as are Russian attacks on the community. The night before the market disaster, Russian artillery wounded five civilians in the same town. The Ukrainian authorities assured that the missile that was launched was a Russian S-300, an anti-aircraft missile also of Soviet origin, used by both armies. Russian armed forces have repeatedly used S-300s to attack ground targets since autumn 2022. This adjustment from surface-to-air to surface-to-surface causes the missile to lose precision. Multiple Russian S-300s killed 30 civilians of a humanitarian convoy and injured more than 90 in September 2022.
New York Times journalists obtained visual evidence at the market indicating that the destruction was caused by a 9M38, the missile used by the Buk shuttles. The newspaper also confirmed on site that two Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles were fired from near Kostyantinivka at the time of the incident.
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It is the second known incident in which a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile has caused fatal accidents, and also the second incident in which Kiev has accused Russia of doing so. A missile from a Ukrainian S-300 battery crashed in Poland in November 2022, killing two people. The missile was fired in western Ukraine to intercept a Russian cruise missile. Months after the incident, Zelensky continued to claim that the deaths of the two Polish citizens were due to a Russian attack, although Polish authorities and NATO confirmed that it was a Ukrainian projectile.
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