Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the country’s air force said. But drones that got through air defence systems sparked an inferno at the industrial storage facility, Governor Maksym Kozytsky said.
The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine condemned the drone strikes and said they had burned down a charity’s warehouse that contained vital relief supplies. Denise Brown said the attack violated international humanitarian law that protects workers, facilities and supplies.
“Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war,” Brown said.
In other Russian attacks, a guided aerial bomb killed three civilians in Kupyansk, a city in the eastern Kharkiv region, and an artillery strike in Kherson in the south struck a bus, killing a police officer and wounding two men, Ukrainian officials said. That strike also torched a warehouse.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Troops from both sides are now engaged in fierce battles in the country’s east, where Ukrainian forces are making slow but steady advances as part of a grinding counteroffensive.
Ukraine Defence Minister Rustem Umerov at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where allies pledged money and weapons. Photo / AP
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine had fired the missile from a Buk surface-to-air missile system that struck the city of Kostiantynivka on September 6. In her Telegram post, she pointed to a New York Times investigation published on Monday that cited evidence suggesting it was an errant Ukrainian missile that exploded over the market.
“Even if the action wasn’t premeditated, it’s obvious to everyone that a complete demilitarisation of the Kyiv regime isn’t merely a demand but an acute necessity,” Zakharova declared.
Ukraine’s SBU state security service rejected the findings of the New York Times report, saying an ongoing investigation so far had shown the attack was carried out by Russia. Missile fragments found at the scene were identified as an S-300 surface-to-air missile, it said.
Doubts have emerged about the origin of the strike after the NYT report, which cited evidence — including missile fragments, satellite imagery and witnesses — that suggested Ukraine had fired an air defence missile that failed to hit its intended target.
At the time Kyiv blamed Russia for the attack, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it a “deliberate” strike at a civilian area. The White House also blamed Russia for the attack, one of the deadliest bombardments of civilians in the 18-month-old war.
Throughout the war, Russian officials have repeatedly claimed without offering evidence that strikes on apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine came from the Ukrainian forces. It was the case again with the September 6 strike on Kostyantynivka, when Russian officials quickly pointed the finger at Ukraine.
Speaking at the United Nations after the attack, Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the West of covering up what he described as a “horrible crime and a terrible provocation by Ukraine”.
Zelenskyy meanwhile was in New York preparing to address the UN General Assembly and the Security Council before travelling to Washington on Thursday to meet with lawmakers and President Joe Biden.
Zelenskyy has continued to drum up funding and support for new weapons as the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June approaches what could be its final weeks before wet weather slows progress. Ukraine has made small advances but no major breakthroughs.
Other allies pledged money and weapons at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Germany.
