“Attack appears to have been a tragic accident” Attention fans: Blink-182 will release a new album in October

About two weeks after the deadly attack on a market square in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, no one has yet been found responsible. Did Russia target civilian infrastructure – or is Ukraine to blame?

On Tuesday, Kiev reiterated that the shelling had come from the Russian side. “According to investigators, the enemy fired an S-300 missile at this civilian object,” the Internet portal “Ukrainskaya Pravda” quoted the Ukrainian secret service SBU on Tuesday. This is proven by the missile debris found at the impact site.

Sixteen people were killed and more than thirty others were injured in the September 6 attack. Russian forces are located about 20 kilometers east and about 30 kilometers south of Kostiantynivka.

Journalists doubt Russia’s guilt

Meanwhile, journalists from the American newspaper ‘New York Times’ had strong doubts that it was really a Russian missile. They referred, among other things, to the direction from which the rocket came, according to a video. Based on further investigation, they believe it was likely a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile fired from a Buk launch system near the neighboring town of Druzhkivka and then accidentally hit Kostiantynivka. “The attack appears to have been a tragic accident,” the report said.

Air defense experts say missiles like the ones that have hit the market can veer off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or a damaged or broken guide fin during launch.

Podoljak: “Conspiracy theories”

Advisor in the presidential office Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed reports that the shell that hit the market square in Kostiantynivka, not far from the front, could have been a misguided Ukrainian missile. Such rumors promote “conspiracy theories,” Podoljak said.

“The company will get an answer to the question of what just happened in Kostiantynivka,” Podolyak said, referring to the investigations that have been launched. “In the meantime, we must not forget: it was Russia that launched this invasion of Ukraine, and it is Russia that is responsible for the war in our country.”