Russia first time uses hypersonic missile to destroy military facility in Ukraine
Europe, News March 20, 2022 1 Comment on Russia first time uses hypersonic missile to destroy military facility in UkraineRussia used its latest Kinzhal hypersonic missile to destroy an underground missile and ammunition storage facility in western Ukraine, the Russian military said in a statement on March 19.
This was Russia’s first deployment of the hypersonic Kinzhal system since sending troops to Ukraine on February 24.
The storage site for missiles and aviation munitions which was targeted by the Russian military was located in the village of Delyatyn, outside of Ivano-Frankivsk city, near the border with NATO member Romania.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that “The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.”
According to Konashenkov, the Russian military also used its Bastion coastal missile system to destroy military radio and reconnaissance centers near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
The Russian military also released aerial footage showing the missile strike. The footage showed a large structure in a snowy region before being destroyed by a huge explosion. Later the Ukrainian Air Force Command confirmed that Russia has conducted a missile strike on Delyatyn.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat, Russia carried out a missile attack on a storage location but said that the Ukrainian military had no information on what type of missiles have been used.
“The enemy targeted our depots” but “we have no information of the type of missile,” Ignat said in a statement. “There has been damage, destruction and the detonation of munitions. They are using all the missiles in their arsenal against us,” he added.
▫️Destruction of a weapons depot of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by high-precision missile weapons strike. We can see the exact hit of an underground hangar with weapons and ammunition. pic.twitter.com/sKTF46Tdb0
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 19, 2022
Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff also said on March 19 that in the past 24 hours, Russia had conducted 14 missile attacks and 40 air raids on targets in different regions of Ukraine.
Earlier in December 2021, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was the global leader in hypersonic missiles. Putin also called Russia’s Kinzhal (Dagger) nuclear-capable hypersonic missile “an ideal weapon” that flies at the speed of Mach 10 (ten times the speed of sound) and can overcome advanced air-defense systems.
Hypersonic weapons are considered the next generation of arms aimed at countering adversaries with increased precision without giving interceptors the time to react and depriving the counter mechanisms.
ALSO READ: Hypersonic and Directed-Energy Weapons – A New Arms Race
Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic missile is part of a series of weapons launched in 2018. According to Russia’s TASS news agency’s report, Kinzhal is an air-to-surface weapon aboard a Russian MiG-31K fighter jet. It has a range of 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) and can fly at speeds of 6,000 km/h. Kinzhal can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors.
Russia deployed its first hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles at the end of 2018, while in early 2020 Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw naval exercises in the Black Sea that involved multiple missile launches including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system.
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[…] U.S. test of the hypersonic missile came only days after Russia carried out the first-ever hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine. The Russian military used its indigenously produced Kinzhal hypersonic missile in western Ukraine […]