Ukraine's air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow's most modern missiles.
Russia smugly proclaimed a few years ago that nobody could shoot down its hypersonic missiles. Ukraine shot one of them down a few days ago using a US Patriot air defense system. 😁
Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems.
“Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Oleshchuk wrote. “It happened during the night-time attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region.”
Oleshchuk said the Kh-47 missile was launched by a MiG-31K aircraft from Russian territory and was shot down with a Patriot missile.
The Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons. The Russian military says the air-launched ballistic missile has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.
A combination of hypersonic speed and a heavy warhead allows the Kinzhal to destroy heavily fortified targets, like underground bunkers or mountain tunnels.
Ukraine actually withheld news of this for a few days.
Direct from the Ukrainian Air Force Telegram channel:
Також оприлюднюємо інформацію щодо нічної атаки 4 травня! Близько 2.30 у небі Київщини ЗРК "Patriot" знищено аеробалістичну ракету Х-47 "Кинджал", запущену із МіГ-31К з території росії.
❗️Ще раз наголошуємо, військовим керівництвом було прийнято рішення не оприлюднювати інформацію про збиття Х-47 "Кинджал" системою "Patriot" ОДРАЗУ❗️ Причини цілком зрозумілі. На все свій час!
Rough translation.
We're also releasing information about the attack on the night of May 4th! Around 2:30 AM in the skies above the Kyiv region, a Patriot air defense system destroyed a Kh-47 "Kinzhal" aeroballistic missile launched from a MiG-31K over Russian territory.
❗️We emphasize once again, the military command made the decision not to publish information about the downing of the X-47 "Kinzhal" by the "Patriot" system IMMEDIATELY❗️ The reasons are quite clear. All in good time!
Yeah, let Putin waste more of his most expensive missiles before letting him understand they are now vulnerable to Ukrainian air defense. Of course, verifying that it was indeed a Kinzhal was important to the Ukrainians for the sake of accuracy.
