Comment on this storyComment
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine said Saturday it used the US-made Patriot air defense system to shoot down a Russian hypersonic missile in the skies over the capital region of Kiev — demonstrating it is now capable of targeting one of the most to thwart Moscow’s dreaded weapons.
So far, the hypersonic missile, dubbed the Kinzhal, meaning “dagger” in Russian, has been unstoppable by Ukraine, and several had hit targets since the start of the Russian war in February 2022. The Kinzhal had a lower altitude than conventional ballistic missiles and was too fast when that the Ukrainian air defense could react at all.
“Congratulations to the people of Ukraine on a historic event!” Head of Ukraine’s Air Command Mykola Oleshchuk posted along with a lightning bolt emoji. “Yes, we brought down the ‘unprecedented’ Kinzhal!”
It had been reported in recent days that Ukraine had stopped a Kinzhal in the early hours of Thursday as part of a broader Russian airstrike on Kiev that also included drones. The drones were also stopped, officials said.
Leaked US files reveal deep rift between Russian military and Wagner boss
The destruction of the missile, believed to be a Kh-47 fired from a Russian MiG-31K fighter jet, demonstrated the potentially game-changing role of the Patriot system, which costs approximately $1 billion per installation.
The United States and the Netherlands agreed to donate a Patriot system, and Ukrainian soldiers had gone to Oklahoma for training.
Oleshchuk’s post also included a Ukrainian flag and the word “patriot,” but he said more details would be reported “in due course” so as not to help Russia.
The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a surface-to-air system and one of the most advanced air defense capabilities in the US arsenal. It consists of a powerful radar, control station, power generator, launch stations and support vehicles.
It can deploy different types of interceptors – to destroy aircraft and missiles in flight, as well as radar installations, for example – and identifying the specific interceptor used by Ukraine would reveal the full capabilities Kiev now has. For example, depending on the range, this could include the ability to shoot down planes over Belarusian or even Russian territory.
The Patriot system uses three types of missiles, all of which “could potentially take out those Russian bombers hovering over Belarusian airspace,” said Reuben Johnson, an expert on US military hardware.
But only one of the missiles – the Missile Segment Enhancement, or MSE – is designed to take out the Kinzhal. It can also intercept ballistic missiles carrying chemical or nuclear payloads at a “keep-out” altitude, Johnson said, and destroy an incoming missile outside of the atmosphere so the weapons don’t contaminate areas on the ground.
“Having the Patriots there now and having that kind of reach would stop any Russian pilot and make them feel less safe,” he said.
What you need to know about the Russian hypersonic missiles
Michael Kofman, a military expert at CNA, a US-based policy institute, said that too much is being made of the Kinzhal and that it is not particularly different from other ballistic missiles. The Kinzhal is a variant of the Russian Iskander-M.
“I don’t understand the interest in the Russian use of Kinzhal. There’s nothing special or particularly exciting about this system,” Kofman tweeted.
“Iskander-M is a tried and tested system. Hundreds were fired. Kinzhal is an airborne variant of this system,” he wrote. “It uses the aircraft for extra range and initial speed. Otherwise it looks unremarkable. It’s just as ‘hypersonic’ as many other ballistic missiles.”
Since October, Russia has been waging a relentless campaign of airstrikes against critical infrastructure in Ukraine to destroy its power systems. The strikes have killed scores of civilians, in some cases dozens at a time, as residential buildings have been hit. For example, in January, a Kinzhal missile reportedly hit a residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing at least 46 people.
Russia’s airstrikes continued overnight from Friday to Saturday, with another eight attack drones shot down, Ukrainian officials said.
Wagner boss threatens to withdraw from Bakhmut, hits Russian military
Earlier, Ukrainian officials said they were powerless against ballistic missile attacks. The missiles flew so fast that Ukraine’s air warning systems didn’t even have time to sound the alarm.
When the Kinzhal missile was intercepted around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, it caused a thunderous bang that was heard across the Ukrainian capital, shaking many residents from their beds.
“They said the Patriot is an outdated American weapon and Russian weapons are the best in the world,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainian television. “Well, there is confirmation that it works effectively even against a super-hypersonic missile.”
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed – big and small – since Russia launched its full-scale invasion a year ago. They have learned to survive and support each other in extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and destroyed marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from an invasion on multiple fronts that included Kiev in the north to a conflict of attrition largely centered on a vast territory to the east and south. Follow the 600-mile frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces and get a glimpse of where the fighting was concentrated.
Living apart for a year: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law barring military-age men from leaving the country, has forced millions of Ukrainian families to make agonizing choices about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives no longer are recognizable. This is what a train station full of farewells looked like last year.
Deepening of the global divide: President Biden has dubbed the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from settled on the issues raised by the Ukraine war to be united. There is ample evidence that efforts to isolate Putin have failed and that sanctions have not stopped Russia thanks to its oil and gas exports.
Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Check out 3 more stories