A US-made missile fired by Ukrainian forces injured three civilians in eastern Ukraine in September, according to residents, and debris was recovered from the scene, marking a rare instance of the weapon. provided by the United States involved civilian casualties in the nine-month conflict.
The attack – from the AGM-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, fired from a fighter jet against ground targets such as radar and air defense systems – occurred around 6 p.m. on May 26. 9 in the city of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. speak. The industrial city in Ukraine’s Donbas region has been the site of frequent rocket and artillery attacks since Russia’s invasion in February.
As Russia’s ground war in Ukraine got bogged down, the country sustained a missile and heavy drone strike. important civilian infrastructure destroyed and killed or wounded many Ukrainian civilians. In response, Ukraine has had to rely heavily on air defense systems, some of which are newly sent from Western allies.
In one case this month, US and Polish officials said that a Russian-designed missile crossed Ukraine’s western border into Polish territory and killed two people. most likely anti-aircraft bullets fired by Ukraine in response to a heavy Russian air attack.
The war in Ukraine has been defined by an almost endless stream of ammunition, and the type and origin of the thousands of rounds, shells, and missiles fired at the front lines of the war can sometimes not be verified.
But New York Times journalists were able to collect and identify distinct metal fragments left behind at the site of an earlier attack, in September in eastern Ukraine, providing a window into sometimes billions of dollars in US military aid sent to Ukraine can land.
“Three people were injured, they said. Not die. It hit an empty apartment, and in the next apartment, people were injured,” said Olga Vasylivna, a resident who lives near where the missile struck. Her account was given by witnesses. “We’ve had hits in this neighborhood before. Now we fear every little rustle.”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not respond to questions about the missile attack.
Efforts to protect Ukraine’s skies and destroy Russia’s own air defense systems have become more urgent in recent weeks.
This month, the United States announced that two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, will firing missiles for which Ukraine’s allies have a large supply, was moved to Kiev. Six more will be supplied to Ukraine in the coming years.
The arrival of Western weapons into the Ukrainian military’s arsenal sometimes requires a degree of fraud and jury improvisation – in this case, to allow Soviet-era MiG fighters of Ukraine fired the AGM-88, a missile it was not designed to carry.
There have been no documented cases of Ukrainian forces intentionally targeting cities entirely under their control, suggesting the missile is likely off target and may have malfunctioned. However, the Russian military often targets civilian infrastructure and population centers such as a central and repetitive tactic.
To mask their attacks on civilians, the Kremlin often wrongly attributes some of these casualties to malfunctioning Ukrainian air defenses that hit residential areas instead of intercepting them. Russian missiles and drones.
What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What is their motivation to tell us? Have they proven reliable in the past? Can we verify the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times still uses anonymous sources as a last resort. Reporters and at least one editor know the identity of the source.
In this case, the missile hit the top floor of a five-story Soviet-style apartment building, exploding on impact and punching a distinct hole in the side of the building.
At the end of September, Kramatorsk was about 20 miles from where Ukrainian forces were trying to retake the strategic railway hub Lyman from the Russians. It is unclear whether the missile hit the apartment building because it missed its intended target and continued to fly, or if the missile malfunctioned somehow.
According to two US defense officials, there is no indication that Russian forces in Ukraine have captured or used HARM missiles since the United States began supplying weapons.
Almost immediately after the explosion, images of debris and shrapnel posted to a local Ukrainian-run Telegram channel containing the manufacturer’s number and decals indicating that the missile was an American-made AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM.
The next morning, reporters for The New York Times physically examined a shrapnel at the scene containing the assembly number that linked the fragment to an electronic circuit card assembly used only in the AGM-88B, according to the facility. Online data allows the public to look up data on US government assets. Other fragments of the destroyed bomb were also present at the blast site consistent with older American-made missiles.
AGM-88 is Developed by the US Navy and Air Force after the Vietnam War for dedicated fighters to destroy enemy air defense missile sites. After launch, the missile searches for some type of electromagnetic radiation emitted by radars attached to surface-to-air missile positions and houses on the source of those radio signals from more than 30 miles away, detonating 40 pounds of dynamite in its warhead On impact.
It is not clear when the Pentagon first began supplying AGM-88 missiles to the Ukrainian military. But in August, US defense officials acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were using the weapon in combat. Videos posted on social media also confirm their use.
The AGM-88’s intended target for hitting the apartment building in Kramatorsk is unclear, but it is possible that it failed to find enemy radar and attacked the apartment building after running out of fuel. The missile will continue to fly if it misses its initial target and searches for other enemy radar targets.
The Pentagon has long used stockpiles of aging equipment to supply Kiev, sometimes forcing the Ukrainian military to carry old equipment. A US officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the missile’s use, added that the AGM-88B that hit the apartment in Kramatorsk almost certainly came from the old stockpile, as it had been replaced by a newer model of service to American forces.
The missile is just one of many weapons the United States and other countries have provided in lethal aid worth billions of dollars to Ukraine, and the Pentagon has announced four separate military aid packages. special for Kiev since August including AGM-88 missiles.
An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting.
