Evidence suggests that the explosion in a crowded marketplace in the city of Kostiantynivka, in eastern Ukraine, earlier this month was caused by a Ukrainian missile that went off course, the New York Times reports in an article today.

Kiev announced that the explosion, which occurred on 6 September and killed at least 16 people, was caused by a Russian rocket.

“Evidence gathered and analyzed by the New York Times, including fragments of the missile, satellite images, eyewitness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggest that the devastating strike was caused by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense missile fired from a Buk system that went off course,” the US newspaper noted.

The missile that hit the market in #Kostiantynivka on 6 September was launched by the #Ukrainian armed forces, according to journalists of The New York Times

They conducted their own investigation and concluded that it was a Ukrainian missile from the Buk air defence system. The… pic.twitter.com/2MAy323veE

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 19, 2023

The NYT journalists conducted their own investigation and concluded that it was a Ukrainian missile from the Buk air defence system. The experts suggested that the missile could have deviated from its course due to a malfunction, however, in their opinion, it did not come from Russia.

On 6 September, a strike on Kostiantynivka killed at least 15 people and injured more than 30. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy blamed the Russian forces.

The New York Times noted that security camera footage showed that the missile came from an area under Ukrainian control.

In addition, the newspaper cited evidence that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military had fired two surface-to-air missiles at the Russians from the town of Druzhkivka, about 16 kilometers northwest of Kostiantynivka.

It cited two eyewitnesses who said they saw the missiles being fired from Druzhkivka in the direction of where the Russian troops were on the front line. One of them even said that the missiles were directed towards Kostiantynivka.

The New York Times also reported that the craters caused by the explosion and the debris found at the site were consistent with a 9M38 missile fired from the Buk mobile air defence system.

The system is used by both Ukraine and Russia.