DONETSK, August 25 (RIA Novosti) – A Tochka-U (SS-21 “Scarab B”) ballistic missile landed on the outskirts of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine for the first time since the conflict broke out, a RIA Novosti correspondent in the area reports.
Earlier, the use of the missiles has been reported in Luhansk, Snizhny and Shakhtarsk. The strike was carried out on August 24, Independence Day of Ukraine, but was revealed only Monday.
The rocket’s fragmentation warhead exploded in the air above a street in Donetsk’s Kirovsky district. A mother of three was seriously injured after coming to the district to check the condition of her house, as the area has frequently been subject to shelling. The missile also wounded a man who covered his children with his own body.
The missile’s engine fell on a waste area in the same district.
The basis of the Tochka-U (SS-21 “Scarab B”) tactical ballistic systems is a one-stage ballistic missile that can be guided during the whole flight. The weapon is capable of carrying nuclear, chemical and fragmentation fillings. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, several Soviet republics retained the launchers, auxiliary hardware and missiles. According to Military Periscope and Military Balance data, Ukraine has about 90 such launchers.
Kiev has been conducting a special military operation in eastern Ukraine aimed at suppressing the region’s independence supporters since mid-April. According to UN estimates, over 2,000 people have been killed and around 5,000 wounded since the fighting broke out.
