Russian servicemen guarding in a metal rolling shop at the Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works in Alchevsk, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine on June 11, 2022.
Russian servicemen guarding in a metal rolling shop at the Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works in Alchevsk, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine on June 11, 2022.Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images
  • There are videos showing a failed Russian missile launch.

  • The videos show the missile going into the sky before it explodes on the ground.

  • There is no clear explanation for the malfunction. Unspent fuel may have been the cause of the explosion.

A video on social media claims to show a failed missile launch from the city of Alchevsk.

A video shows a missile that appears to be speeding up into the sky before circling back and hitting the ground in a burst of light that looks like fireworks.

—Rob Lee (@RALee85) June 24, 2022

The first video was uploaded to the Face Of War Telegram channel. The incident is said to have taken place in the city of Alchevsk, which is in eastern Ukraine.

A video posted on Telegram by Inform Napalm shows multiple clips of the same incident from different angles.

There are smoke trails in the sky.

The Russian can be heard speaking in some of the clips. Insider couldn't verify the videos on their own. There was no information about injuries from the malfunction.

—Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 24, 2022

Snopes confirmed that the videos appeared to show a Russian missile landing short of where other missiles had been launched.

Snopes did not find evidence that the launch site was hit or that any Russian troops were killed.

It's not clear what caused the malfunction or if it caused any damage or casualties.

According to The Telegraph, the large explosion was caused by unspent fuel blowing up on impact, as surface-to-air missiles do not carry large explosives.

Business Insider has an article on it.