Russian Missile Identified in Kyiv Children’s Hospital Attack
July 9, 2024An analysis of open source evidence, as well as missile experts, have pointed to a Russian launched Kh-101 cruise missile being the weapon that struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv, debunking claims from pro-Russian accounts and actors that denied responsibility and sought to shift the blame for the incident on to Ukraine.
The July 8 attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital
killed at least three children and injured 16 others, according to the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU). However, the full toll of dead and injured remains unknown with individuals reported to still be trapped under rubble.
In the aftermath of the strike, several social media accounts known for spreading disinformation — including that of the
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs — began to claim that the missile was American-made and that it had been launched from a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile system.
Yet an analysis conducted by Bellingcat using social media footage as well as a 3D model of the missile, all point to the munition being a
Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. The analysis is in line with the view of experts, including
Fabian Hoffman, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo who specialises in missile technology.
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons and missile expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California, similarly concluded in an email to Bellingcat that a Kh-101 missile could be seen in footage of the attack posted to social media sites.
Bellingcat also tested an alternative theory floated online that the missile was a US-made AIM-120, but found no evidence for this.
The hospital attack came as part of a wider Russian missile barrage that hit civilian targets elsewhere in Ukraine, including the city of Dnipro. . .
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/09/russian-missile-identified-in-kyiv-childrens-hospital-attack/
