Russia launched three ‘Kinzhal’ hypersonic missiles against Ukraine today, one of which hit an airfield while the others were shot down by Ukrainian air defense while over Kiev, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
“One of the three ‘Kinzhals’ hit the area of the Starokostiantiniv airfield in the Khmelnitsky oblast,” explained the Kyiv Air Force, referring to the Ukrainian military base located in that region of western Ukraine, which is frequently targeted by Russian attacks.
As usual when it comes to military targets, Kyiv did not report the consequences of the attack on the airfield area.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Kinzhal missiles – which are the most difficult to intercept in the Russian arsenal – were launched from three MiG-31K aircraft in the airspace of the Tambov oblast in western Russia.
According to Kyiv’s military report, the planes took off from the Savasleika base, located in the Nizhny Novgorod oblast in western Russia.
Kyiv has been demanding for months that its allies send it long-range missiles to systematically hit the air bases from which the Russian planes bombing Ukraine take off.
Ukraine’s partners have not yet agreed to lift this restriction for fear of Russia’s reaction.
The hypersonic ‘Kinzhal’ missiles – which in Russian means “dagger” – are particularly difficult to intercept and the process is quite expensive, requiring very sophisticated anti-aircraft systems, such as the US-made ‘Patriot’.
Ukraine has a limited number of these systems and much of its territory and infrastructure is vulnerable to Russian ‘Kinzhal’ missiles.
In addition to the three Kinzhal missiles, Russia launched three other missiles of different types against Ukrainian territory, which it failed to shoot down, and an unknown number of drones (unmanned aerial devices) of which Ukraine shot down 32 and managed to intercept another 37 with radio-electronic interference.
The Ukrainian army is increasingly using radio-electronic warfare measures to prevent Russian drones from reaching their targets.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, some of the drones have hit targets in the Kharkiv border region, where the front line also passes.
Ukraine has been receiving financial and arms aid from its Western allies since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.
Kyiv’s allies have also issued sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy to try to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort in Ukraine.
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