Downing of hypersonic missile may blow a hole in Russian boasts

Kyiv — Ukrainian air defences shot down a Russian hypersonic missile for the first time during an attack on the capital, Kyiv, the Air Force said on Saturday, in a potentially major setback for the Kremlin’s campaign of long-range air strikes.

The Kinzhal, which means “dagger” in Russian, is one of six “next generation” weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when the Russian leader boasted that it cannot be shot down by any of the world’s air defence systems.

Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said the Kh-47 Kinzhal was shot down on Thursday night over the region outside Kyiv. The Air Force said it had been taken down by a US Patriot air defence system. “I congratulate the Ukrainian people on the historic event. Yes, we shot down the ‘unparalleled’ Kinzhal,” he said on the Telegram app.

The US Patriot system is one of an array of sophisticated air defence units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel a Russian campaign of air strikes that has targeted critical infrastructure, power facilities and other sites. US Patriot missiles were delivered to Ukraine last month, officials said.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the attacks, which Russia stepped up in October ahead of winter. The strikes failed to cripple the power grid but caused sweeping power cuts and other outages. Russia denies targeting civilians.

Russia, which did not immediately comment on Ukraine’s statement about the Kinzhal, has in the past boasted that the missile has no equivalent in the West. The air-launched ballistic missile, which can reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (more than 12,000km/h), is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. It has a reported range of between 1,500km and 2,000km.

Ukraine said the missile was fired during a drone attack on Kyiv and other cities on Thursday.

The Air Force had not previously disclosed that a Kinzhal was used for the attack, though Kyiv officials said immediately that a ballistic missile had been involved.

Russia has intensified drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian regions over the past week as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces, which have dug in across swathes of occupied land in the south and east.

Kinzhal missiles have been used on several occasions in Ukraine. The first known use of the weapon in combat was when Russia said it fired the missile at a munitions dump in southwestern Ukraine on March 19 2022.

Ukraine’s Air Force was previously seen as unable to shoot down ballistic missiles, which Russia used to strike residential areas and Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

The Air Force on Saturday said it shot down eight Shahed drones launched by Russia on the eastern and southeast Ukrainian regions in an overnight attack.

Reuters