Russian Rocket Riot

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7418860.stm

No hard-fought independence war was this,
The bright glare of the rockets was not red,
The smoking fires which lit them with a hiss,
Which fortunately left no victims dead,
But gave a show to them they'd not forget,
As rockets flew at random through the town,
And residents ran by with low-down heads,
Just hoping that the errant missiles' sound,
Would be all that they heard, and they would not touch down.