Russia used a hypersonic missile for its massive attack on civilian targets in Ukraine

Russian forces used hypersonic missiles among the 81 rockets launched during Thursday’s offensive against Ukraine, as confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, while the Ukrainian military authorities admitted that their forces could not effectively stop this type of arsenal .

Air raid sirens blared over the capital for seven hours as Ukrainian air defenses brought down drones and all manner of cruise missiles, although preliminary reports said a hypersonic missile hit its target.

“Long range air, sea and land precision weapons, including Kinzhal hypersonic missile systemhit key parts of Ukraine’s military infrastructure, enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as electrical installations that supply them with energy,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

“Unfortunately, a Kinzhal-type missile hit an infrastructure objectsaid Serhi Popko, head of the Kyiv region military authority.

Putin’s army has already used this type of missile in Ukraine. In August, he reported that they had been released three times, starting in July. “And all three times he showed brilliant features,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu celebrated at the time.

The Kinzhal missiles are part of a suite of new hypersonic weapons that President Vladimir Putin unveiled in 2018 in a belligerent speech in which he said that they could reach almost anywhere in the world and evade a US-developed missile shield.

He Kinzhal It measures eight meters, weighs half a ton and can be launched from a fighter plane as well as from a bomber. Its speed is five to ten times that of sound and its range exceeds 2,000 km.

According to a report quoted by the Russian news agency CASSin July 2018, This type of weapon could reach more than 3000 kilometers, if launched from a Tupolev Tu-22M bomber. This Russian dagger is a very difficult projectile to intercept due to its maneuverability. Its hypersonic function allows it to modify its trajectory in the air and to deviate if necessary.

This Thursday, the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russia fired 81 missiles into Ukrainian territory in the early hours of Thursday, including six Kinzhal missiles.

Valery Zaluzhny reported on Telegram the list of the arsenal used from different bases: 28 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from the air; 20 cruise missiles Caliber of the sea; six X-22 aerial cruise missiles; six Kh-47 airborne cruise missiles Kinzhal; eight guided air missiles: 2 – Kh-31P; 6-X-59; and 13 anti-aircraft guided missiles S-300.

The use of hypersonic missiles is analyzed from two angles: it can be a new demonstration of intimidation by the Kremlin or a sign of exhaustion of the most “current” rocket arsenal of the Russian forces .

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the capital’s southwest. Via the Telegram messaging app, the mayor said that 40% of consumers in kyiv had lost electricity.

Also the port of Odessaon the Black Sea, and the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, were hit by missiles, in a wide arc of targets stretching from Yitomir, Vynnytsia and Rivne in the west to Dnieper and Poltava in the center of the country, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

On Thursday morning, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces were attacking the mining town of Bakhmut and other eastern cities, such as Kupyansk, Liman, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk.

“During the last day, our soldiers repelled more than 110 attacks,” the Ukrainian military said.

In turn, missiles knocked out power to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in a series of attacks across Ukraine, as Ukrainian defenders repelled fierce assaults on the beleaguered city of Bakhmut . the nuclear plant Zaporizhiacaptured by the Russian military a year ago, depended on backup generators after Russian missiles damaged Ukrainian infrastructure that supplied power to the plant, Ukraine’s state-owned power company Energoatom said in a statement .

In OdessaThe region’s governor, Maksym Marchenko, said on Telegram that a massive missile attack hit an electrical installation in the port city, knocking out power. Residential areas were also affected.

The governor of the region KharkovOleh Synehubov said the city and region had been hit by 15 attacks, the targets of which included infrastructure. Other attacks were reported in the central city of the Dnieper and in parts of the country.

Russia, which has gone months without a significant victory on the battlefield, set its sights on Bakhmut last August. The fighting in the city has been some of the bloodiest since the invasion of Ukraine began in February last year, but so far the Russian army only claims to have taken the eastern half of the city.

(With information from Reuters)

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