Ukraine released images of Russia's `invincible` missile being shot down 0
(Dan Tri) – Ukraine released images of what it described as a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile shot down by the US Patriot air defense complex.
The photo is described as Ukrainian sappers disabling the warhead of the Kinzhal missile in Kiev (Photo: National Emergency Service of Ukraine).
On January 5, Ukraine’s National Emergency Service posted photos on its Telegram channel showing a crane lifting part of a missile from the ground.
Ukraine claims this is the remains of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile that Kiev successfully intercepted with the US-aided Patriot air defense complex.
`In Kiev, engineers disabled the warhead of the enemy’s Kinzhal hypersonic missile,` the agency wrote.
On January 2, Ukraine announced that it had shot down 10 Kinzhal missiles launched by Russia in a large-scale raid.
Kinzhal missiles are part of an arsenal that Russian President Vladimir Putin claims are impossible to intercept thanks to their travel speed, which is 9-10 times the speed of sound.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, Moscow often fires hypersonic warheads at targets it considers `highly valuable and well-protected`.
Russia has not commented on Ukraine’s statement, but Moscow has repeatedly rejected Ukraine’s claim that it could shoot down Kinzhal, saying that technically this is impossible.
Previously, Russia said that Ukraine claimed to have intercepted three times the number of Kinzhal missiles that Russia had actually launched since the war broke out in February 2022.
According to a Russian official, Kinzhal’s speed exceeds the maximum interception capability according to Patriot’s design.
It is difficult for a third party to accurately verify the information provided by the two sides participating in the war because they often tend to present unfavorable developments as a psychological blow to the opponent.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic cruise missile system is one of the hypersonic weapons deployed by Russia since the late 2010s.
The danger of the Kinzhal missile lies in its accuracy, range and supersonic speed.
The missile can carry a conventional warhead weighing 500kg, or a nuclear warhead with an explosive yield of 100-500kt.
Last July, Vladimir Artyakov, deputy CEO of Russia’s Rostec Defense Corporation, announced that Russia had begun mass production of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of the military.
In addition, Ukraine previously revealed that Russia sought to deceive Kiev’s defense shield by using electronic warfare to simulate the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
Specifically, according to a Kiev official, Russia’s electronic warfare emitted electromagnetic pulses to make Ukraine’s radars mistake the `decoy` weapons as Moscow’s Kinzhal missiles.
