Remains of the rocket near the Kramatorsk railway station (Photo: Chairman of the Board of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Alexander Kamishin / Facebook)
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The world is shocked by a terrible war crime in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region – the train station, where thousands of civilians were preparing to evacuate, was subjected to rocket fire. 50 deaths known, including children, hundreds of people were injured, many in serious condition. Fragments of a rocket fired by the Tochka-U OTRK were found at the site. The Kremlin denies that these weapons are used by the Russian army, but numerous sources confirm that Tochki-U are in service with the aggressor.
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The missiles of the invaders hit the railway station in Kramatorsk – what is known at the moment
What rocket exploded?
In the first messages after the tragedy (from the head of the Donetsk OVA Pavel Kirilenko and adviser to the head of the President’s Office Oleksiy Arestovich) pointed outthat a Russian Iskander missile with a cluster warhead hit the station.
However, a few minutes later, a photo and video appeared, where the body of the missile unit was filmed, it landed next to the main building of the station. It bears the cynical inscription «For the children.”
Well visible «wings”, characteristic of missiles, which are produced by the operational-tactical complex Tochka-U. The Iskander quasi-ballistic missile has a small tail at the bottom.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of killing innocents: “The invaders hit Tochka-U at the railway station of Kramatorsk, where there were thousands of peaceful Ukrainians, waiting for evacuation. Russian nonhumans do not leave their methods. Not having the strength and courage to confront us on the battlefield, they cynically destroy the civilian population. It is an evil that knows no bounds. And if it is not punished, it will never stop.”
Russian propaganda, which at first assured that Kramatorsk had been struck «accumulation of militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, instantly reoriented. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels began to write that people who were waiting for the evacuation train were fired upon by the Ukrainians, since Tochki-U are in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Conflict Intelligence Team determined that the missile unit was heading northeast, which means that the missile came from the west, southwest, or south. This gave grounds for the Russian Ministry of Defense to declare that the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched missiles from Dobropolye, controlled by Ukraine. However, in a south-southwest direction (for example, south of Ugledar and in the area of Velikaya Novoselka) within the range of the Tochka-U missile there are positions of Russian and “separatist” forces, that is, the launch could well have been carried out from there, ”the investigators write.
It is possible that the rocket took off from the occupied Shakhtyorsk, there is an unverified video of the use of the missile system in this area on the Web.
Denying the obvious
«On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not have any fire missions in the city of Kramatorsk and were not planned, ”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
«Our armed forces do not use this type of missiles,” echoed military spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov.
In November 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense, indeed, reported that the last Tochka-U complexes were withdrawn from missile units, since the re-equipment with Iskander-M complexes was allegedly completed.
Military expert Alexander Kovalenko calls this statement a clear lie. “Russia still has up to 220 Tochka-U fuel dispensers in service,” wrote is he.
Not later than February 15 (nine days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine) Russian and Belarusian agencies told about shooting from Points as part of the joint exercises Allied Resolve-2022.
At the end of March, Belarusian bloggers recorded the active movement of missile system launchers along the roads of the country. “It is quite likely that a separate missile battalion has been returned to the staff of the division / brigade,” assumed author under the nickname Bayan Collector.
In addition, it is known about the facts of the use and shooting down of these missiles during the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Fallen Russian «Points »
On March 1, the National Guard of Ukraine reported that the enemy fired at the residential areas of Mariupol, using a Tochka-U missile with a cluster warhead, photos were attached.
March 6 fragments of a rocket later identified as 9M79M (used in Tochka complexes), were found near the village of Desnyanka, Chernihiv region. It is not far from the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. “It can be assumed that the Russian arsenals are gradually starting to run out of missiles for the Iskanders. (launches of which were constantly carried out from the territory of Belarus during the first days of the war). On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that Russia is thus seeking to strengthen the firepower of the missile forces to support the offensive in northern Ukraine, not replacing, but supplementing the Iskanders, ” wrote then the CIT command.
The remains of cluster munitions of this type are still found by the State Emergency Service in the liberated areas of the Chernihiv region.
On March 9, the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told about the downed Tochka near Popasna. “It turns out that the missile is very easily knocked down with the help of the Stinger MANPADS,” said in the message.
On the destruction of the Russian Tochka-U missile in Donbass General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed March 23.
Russian propaganda assured that a similar rocket that fell on March 14 in the central part of the occupied Donetsk (then, according to the Russian side, 20 people died), was released by Ukrainian forces. Ministry of Defense of Ukraine refuted the fact of using cruise missiles.
Ruslan Leviev, the founder of CIT, having studied the photographs of the place where the ammunition fell, came to the conclusion that the shelling was a provocation of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, the rocket arrived in Donetsk from the southeast. “And in the southeast, along the entire length of 120 km, there is territory controlled by Russian forces and separatist forces. There are no Ukrainian forces there. Accordingly, the Ukrainian rocket could not fly from there, ”- explained analyst.
What is OTRK Tochka-U
The development of the 70s for a long time was the main tactical missile system of the army of the USSR, and then – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Points were also supplied abroad. So, their first combat use was recorded in 1994, in battles between Yemeni government forces and rebels.
The complex launches the 9M79M cruise missile. Throughout the flight, up to the final aiming at the target, it is controlled. This is achieved with the help of aerodynamic elements – wings and rudders. The missiles are equipped with a jet solid propellant engine.
Warhead – cassette (as in Kramatorsk) or high-explosive fragmentation.
The main advantage Tochek-U, military experts called the minimum time to prepare for the launch of missiles – about 15 minutes on the march.
Main cons: short range (120 km is the maximum, despite the fact that Russian Iskanders hit a target at a distance of up to 500 km) and an outdated missile stock.
A well-known case of a rocket getting out of control is the Brovary disaster on April 20, 2000. Then, during the exercises with the use of Tochka-U complexes, the ammunition fired from the training ground 90 km from Brovary went off course and landed in a residential nine-story building, three people died.
In Ukraine, the 19th missile brigade of the Ground Forces remains the operator of the Tochka-U systems.
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