Truth Hounds present the investigation “The bill is on you. Identification of the unit responsible for the missile attack on Kramatorsk and Bilenke on 27 June 2023″. The team of documenters and investigators have determined that this assault was conducted by the 47th Missile Brigade of the 8th General Troops Army of the Russian Armed Forces, under the command of Colonel Vitaliy Bobyr using Iskander-K cruise missiles. This attack should be qualified as a war crime in the form of an indiscriminate attack.
To establish this data, Truth Hounds collected 22 testimonies of eyewitnesses and victims, including those who had not been interviewed before at all. The team also investigated the nature of the damage and the locations of hits during the field mission, conducted OSINT and analyzed the practices of applying international humanitarian and criminal law. Two versions of the investigation have been prepared, one of which contains additional details and is intended for Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. The purpose of creating two versions is to protect sensitive information about the circumstances of the crime and at the same time to provide investigative bodies with an evidence base. The details contained in the non-public version of the investigation do not affect the conclusions or legal qualification of the incident.
Identification of the type of weapon and the perpetrators
On 27 June 2023, Russian forces launched a double missile attack on the city of Kramatorsk and the adjacent village of Bilenke in Donetsk Oblast. The attack resulted in the deaths of 13 people and injuries to 60 more. Among the dead was Truth Hounds documenter and member of PEN Ukraine Viktoriia Amelina.
Considering the nature of the damage to the premises of the Ria Lounge in Kramatorsk, the characteristics of the crater in Bilenke and the projectile fragment located therein, statements from eyewitnesses, and other specific characteristics of the attack, Truth Hounds were able to prove that the Russian Armed Forces carried out this attack using Iskander-K cruise missiles.
The established facts indicate that the missiles were launched from a southeasterly direction in relation to the affected localities, an area of responsibility for the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. There are only four units in this area armed with Iskander missile systems. However, having analysed their locations and the areas of hostilities at the moment of the attack, the list of potential perpetrators was narrowed down to a single unit — the 47th Missile Brigade of the 8th General Troops Army of the Russian Armed Forces, under the command of Colonel Vitaliy Bobyr.
Legitimate military targets
After interviewing ten eyewitnesses and victims among the visitors of the restaurant and five former employees of the Ria Lounge, who were at work on the day of the attack, Truth Hounds determined that there were up to 40 military men belonging to one unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including members of its command, stayed in the Ria Lounge diner for a long time in an organised manner. The celebration was divided into two parts: the first guests were expected to arrive at 13:00 and the second group was supposed to arrive at 19:00. In both cases, the groups were supposed to be 20 individuals each. However, not all the witnesses agreed that the second group of military personnel, who were supposed to arrive in the evening, showed up at all. At the same time, a parallel celebration was supposed to be held in Bilenke in the local establishment the Laguna, located at the intersection of Beliayeva Street and Sofiivska Street, ten metres from the impact point of the second missile.
In the investigation, Truth Hounds demonstrated that the percentage of customers belonging to the military on the day of the attack was high; the majority of the interviewees agreed that Ukrainian soldiers constituted about a half of the total number of guests at the Ria Lounge on the day of the strike. In addition, two celebratory events for the military were scheduled at the diner on the day of the attack. Considering that Russia could be aware of the celebrations, we can assume that Russia had grounds to consider the Ria Lounge and the Laguna a legitimate target.
Legal qualification
Despite the presence of Ukrainian military personnel in the Ria Lounge that evening, this double missile attack on Kramatorsk and Bilenke should be qualified as a war crime in the form of an indiscriminate attack.
IHL does not only prohibit attacks targeting civilian objects it also prohibits indiscriminate attacks, which ‘may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
The targeted facility was located in a densely populated area of a large city, used by both civilians and the military. The only targets who could be legitimately attacked were Ukrainian military personnel. This leads Truth Hounds to the conclusion that the perpetrators of the attack against Kramatorsk did not have control over the target.
As demonstrated in Truth Hounds’ investigation, the missile flight took about 9–18 minutes. This leads investigators to the conclusion that the perpetrators of the attack against Kramatorsk did not have control over the target between the moment of launch and the hit, and therefore they could not know for sure whether there would still be servicemen in the restaurant and who exactly would be affected by the blow. Eventually, it turned out that way, the number of documented killed servicemen does not exceed two people.
Given the significant destructive power of cruise missiles used against a facility located in a densely populated area of a big city and considering the lack of control over the target, we concluded that the attacker was aware of the circumstances and did not intend to avoid the excessive damage that could be – and eventually was – caused by the attack.
Given the large impact area of cruise missiles and the lack of control over the target by attackers, the attack on the Ria Lounge and the Laguna was indiscriminate in its nature.
The pattern of using Iskander by Russian army
At most, the investigated attack on the city of Kramatorsk and the village of Bilenke is a separate incident within the general pattern of actions of the Russian army, which is considered as established. It consists of attacks on legitimate military targets that are planned and executed in such a way that as many civilians as possible are collaterally injured.
The purpose of this approach is to induce among civilians the fear of being around the military, as well as divide the Ukrainians, marginalize the army and separate it from other parts of society.
Among other attacks which demonstrate this pattern are:
On July 4, 2023
An “Iskander-K” cruise missile hit the city of Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv region. Then a missile hit near the farewell ceremony for a fallen soldier of the Kraken special forces.
On August 19, 2023
An Iskander-K missile equipped with a non-impact detonator hit the building of the Chernihiv Drama Theater. Despite the fact that equipment and people that could have been legitimate targets for the attack were present in the theater, the type of detonator chosen indicates that the attacker intended to hit civilians around the targeted building, rather than the military and drone manufacturers inside it.
On October 5, 2023
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation attacked the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region using an Iskander-M ballistic missile. Local residents had gathered for the reburial of their fellow soldier in the premises of a local café. As a result of that strike, 59 civilians died.
Read the full text of the investigation The bill is on you. Identification of the unit responsible for the missile attack on Kramatorsk and Bilenke on 27 June 2023″ by link.