OSCE car struck by landmine filmed by camera on tripod

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The OSCE car that hit a landmine while driving on a small dirt track close to the small village of Pryshyb in the militants-held territory of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region  was filmed seconds before the car hit the landmine.

The explosion was so powerful that the SUV weighing 4.5 tons was displaced some seven meters away from the blast epicenter. The car caught fire and was completely destroyed.

One OSCE employee from the US was killed in this incident.  Two more OSCE monitors, nationals of Germany and the Czech Republic, were injured.

The OCSE report about the incident is here.

According OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug “The explosion of an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission vehicle in the militant-held part of Luhansk region was not an accident” (source)

The video below is shown at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website. According to RFE/RL it obtained the video from an official Ukrainian source.”

According to the correspondent for Radio Svoboda Christopher Miller, the editorial board obtained this footage from a “source on the government controlled part of Ukraine.”Source: http://en.censor.net.ua/v438860

 

The video seems to have been made by a camera on a tripod. This is remarkable for multiple reasons. First why would someone film these two cars driving on a small road with no interesting objects to be seen. Secondly the video was made by a camera attached to a tripod or fixed to a pole.

“Radio Svoboda” posted on the video on its YouTube channel. Yet, it remains unclear how and from whom the video came into the hands of the Radio Svoboda journalists, who don’t work on this territory. (source)

Was someone expecting the explosion?

The BUK missile plume was also filmed by a camera on a tripod or similair device. The camera which made the shots of the BUK missile trail seems to have been used for surveillance reasons.

What do we know of the camera?

Some facts of the camera:

• likely positioned in government controlled area
• fixed to a tripod or more likely a pole or something
• it was able to turn either manualy or remote
• it is equipped with a long lens
• it was probalby recording for a long period as it captured a car driving on the same road as the OSCE cars 9 minutes after the explosion.

OSCE observation camera?

OSCE is a United Nations agency for monitoring war situations. The mission in Eastern Ukraine is called Special Monitoring Mission (SMM). OCSE installed in several locations in Eastern Ukraine special camera’s which are used to monitor the area 24 hours a day.Besides camera’s OSCE also uses patrols and drones to observe.

For example in this OSCE report the usage of camera is mentioned.

Below a photo showing one of the OSCE camera’s. These camera’s provide a 360 degrees view and can be remotely controlled.

I could not find a reference in an OSCE report of a camera capable of recording the explosion of the OSCE car though.

On the image below the wreckage can be seen. The photographer was standing a few meters north-west of the wreckage. Remote you can see some remains of what could be a chicken farm or something. These remains can clearly be seen on Google Earth, east of the location of the explosion.

The road where the explosion occurred is rarely used by civilians because of its proximity to the contact line. However the full video shows a third unidentified car heading towards the explosion by the same road 9 minutes later.Source: http://en.censor.net.ua/v438860

The camera seems to have a  telelens and has a relative high position.

The height of the spot where the explosion happened is around 82 meters above sealevel.

User Vam in the comments under this post suggested the video was made in a village called Kryakivka

The distance from this village to the location of the landmine is about 4,5 km. There is an unobstructed view towards the road where the vehicle was hit.

This could be the building the video was made from. It is an empty flat. Location  48°46’46.31″N  38°54’17.12″O

The video shakes at the moment of the explosion. I am not sure if the explosion at a distance of 4,5 km can cause a camera on tripod to shake that much.

After the shake, the camera moved towards the left. So the camera must have  been manned by someone. I just cannot image the camera moved because of the shockwave.

After the camera moved, an electricity tower appears in the video. This is a great spot to geolocate the position the video was made from. My guess it is this tower 48.705612, 38.903014

 

See this blogpost for more information.

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