A US-made AGM-88B missile fired by Ukrainian forces in September wounded three civilians in eastern Ukraine after hitting a residential building in Kramatorsk, The New York Times writes . According to the publication, this incident "represents a rare case in which US-supplied weapons were associated with civilian casualties during the nine-month conflict."
The New York Times journalists made this conclusion using separate metal fragments left at the impact site.
“They say that three people were injured. There are no dead. She ended up in an apartment where no one lives, and people were injured in the next one, ”said Olga Vasilievna, a resident of the neighboring house where the rocket hit. Witnesses confirmed her version. “We have had arrivals in this area before. Now we are afraid of every slightest rustle.”
At the end of September, Kramatorsk was about 30 km from the place where the battle for the strategic Liman railway junction took place. “It is not clear if the missile hit the residential building because it missed its intended target and continued flying, or if the missile somehow malfunctioned,” The New York Times said in a text.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not comment on the missile attack to The New York Times.
According to the publication, there are no recorded cases of Ukrainian forces deliberately targeting cities completely under their control, indicating that the missile likely missed the target and could fail. At the same time, The New York Times emphasizes, Russian forces have frequently targeted civilian infrastructure and population centers as a central and recurring tactic.