(Previous Incident Code: RUK0228)

On the morning of 11th May 2022 at 10:45 am, a 26yr old civilian tractor driver from Gadyach was allegedly struck with a guided missile launched from a low-flying Russian aircraft whilst working in a field in the village of Novy Merchik. The attack caused multiple burns and leg injuries to the tractor driver and left them hospitalised in a serious condition according to Head of the Kharkiv OVA Oleg Sinegubov.

Witnesses at the scene stated the Russian plane flew at a low altitude when it launched the missile and had come past for a second lap, resulting in Oleksandr Osetrov, director of Nika, the injured worker’s employer to vehemently declare that “we can assume that the enemy clearly saw and understood that they were aiming a missile at civilians, which is unacceptable”.

As a result, Sergei Bolvinov, head of the Investigation Department of the National Police in Kharkiv, specified as a result of this alleged targetted attack, the Bohodukhiv District Police Department of the Kharkiv Regional Police along with prosecutors of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, both of whom had members examine the scene, have launched Criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Violation of laws and customs of war). The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the SBU Office in the Kharkiv region.

The State Emergency Service units worked at the scene and extinguished the fire caused by the missile at 12:21.

This assessment has reference to ACLED code UKR57622.