BY JAMES BICKERTON ON 5/6/23 AT 12:14 PM EDT
Ukraine has confirmed it successfully shot down a Russian
Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile over Kyiv on Thursday, clarifying earlier
conflicting reports over whether one of the state-of-the-art weapons had been
destroyed.
The announcement was made on Saturday by Lieutenant General
Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, who described it as a
"historic event" on the social media platform Telegram.
Russia launched a wave of missile and
drone attacks at Ukraine on Thursday, most of which were intercepted by air
defense, one day after two drones exploded near the
Kremlin in Moscow. Russian authorities said the drones were
"a planned terrorist act" aimed at assassinating President Putin,
though Kyiv has denied having any responsibility.
The Defense Express, a military-focused
Ukrainian website, first reported one of the intercepted missiles was a
hypersonic Kinzhal on Friday, publishing photographs it said showed the downed
missile.
The outlet claimed the interception took place
over Kyiv at 2:40 a.m. local time on May 4, with the Kinzhal being destroyed by
a "western made air defense system."
However, on Friday
a spokesperson for the Ukrainian
Air Force later said they couldn't say whether a hypersonic
missile had been brought down over the capitol.
Hypersonic missiles are defined as those
capable of traveling at hypersonic speed, meaning between five and 25 times
faster than the speed of sound.
On Saturday, Oleshchuk posted on Telegram
confirming a Kinzhal had been destroyed by what he said was a U.S.-designed
MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system.
He commented: "Congratulations to the
Ukrainian people on a historic event! Yes, we brought down the 'unparalleled'
Dagger [Kinzhal]!
"It happened during the night attack on
May 4 in the sky of Kyiv Region. The Kh-47 missile was fired by a MiG-31K from
the territory of Russia."
The official Ukrainian Air Force Twitter account also posted: "Ukraine's air defenders shot down Kinzhal, a hypersonic aeroballistic russian missile, for the first time since the attacks began. This was done by operators of Patriot air defense system."
Ukraine's air defenders shot down Kinzhal, a hypersonic aeroballistic russian missile, for the first time since the attacks began. This was done by operators of Patriot air defense system. pic.twitter.com/V2YqZE5QEU
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) May 6, 2023
Ukraine was provided with Patriot missile systems by the United
States, Germany, and the Netherlands, with Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov
confirming the first shipments had arrived in April.
Newsweek has
contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment by email.
Speaking in 2018, when he unveiled the Kinzhal, Putin claimed
the missile was "invulnerable" to air defense systems
He said: "Possession of such a weapon, of course, gives
serious advantages in the field of armed struggle. Its power, power, as
military experts say, can be enormous, and speed makes it invulnerable to
today's missile defense and air defense systems, since anti-missiles, in simple
terms, simply cannot catch up with them.
"In this regard, it is understandable why the world's
leading armies strive to have such an ideal weapon for today. Russia has such
weapons. They already have them."
On Saturday Ukraine accused Russia of using
phosphorus weapons on the Donbas city of Bakhmut, which
Moscow's forces have been attempting to capture for several months in a
grueling battle.
https://www.newsweek.com/us-patriot-system-behind-downing-russian-hypersonic-missile-ukraine-1798834
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