Russia unleashed its ‘unstoppable’ Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine, the defence ministry said today, destroying a weapons storage site in the country’s west on Friday.
Russia has never before admitted using the high-precision weapon in combat, and state news agency RIA Novosti said it was the first use of the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons during the conflict in pro-Western Ukraine.
Moscow claims the ‘Kinzhal’- or Dagger – is ‘unstoppable’ by current Western weapons. The missile, which has a range of 1,250 miles, is nuclear capable. This was a conventional strike.
‘The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region’, the Russian defence ministry said Saturday.
Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov also said that the Russian forces used the anti-ship missile system Bastion to strike Ukrainian military facilities near the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat confirmed that the storage site had been targeted, but added that Kyiv had no information regarding the type of missile that was used.
‘The enemy targeted our depots’ but ‘we have no information of the type of missile,’ he said. ‘There has been damage, destruction and the detonation of munitions. They are using all the missiles in their arsenal against us.’
Russia reportedly first used the weapon during its military campaign in Syria in 2016 to support the Assad regime, although it was unclear if this was the same model. Some of the most intense bombing came in 2016 during the battle for Aleppo, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has termed the missile ‘an ideal weapon’ that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defence systems.
Deliatyn, a picturesque village in the foothills of the picturesque Carpathian mountains, is located outside the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. The region of Ivano-Frankivsk shares a 30-mile long border with NATO member Romania.
Since Putin’s invasion on February 24, most of the fighting has taken place in Ukraine’s east – closer to Russia – as Moscow’s forces struggle to make significant gains further into the country.
However, in recent days there have been signs of more western strikes, with one person being killed overnight in a missile attack near Lviv, the closest strike yet to the centre of the western city – where thousands have fled to.
The strike comes as Ukraine’s forces continue to put up a fierce resistance against the invading armies, which have been forced to resort to seemingly indiscriminate artillery strikes on population centres.
Moscow’s troops have been stalled for days. Kyiv has claimed the invaders have suffered almost 15,000 casualties.
American sources estimate the number is lower, saying that 7,000 Russian troops have died so far in the fighting, including four major generals and a number of other senior officers.
Reports on Saturday said that a fifth Russian general had been killed.
Pictured: The moment the Kizhal hypersonic missile destroyed the ammunition depot in western Ukraine, according to Russian Ministry of Defence
Pictured: A video screen grab showing a test of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, dubbed ‘an ideal weapon’ by Vladimir Putin (file photo)
The missile can carry both conventional weapons and nuclear warheads, and can be launched from fighter jets – including Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors. Pictured: The missile is seen being carried by a MiG-31K during a fly-over of Moscow’s Red Square in 2018
Russia’s announcement of the missile strike came as Kyiv’s army high command claimed to have killed a fifth Moscow general since the war in Ukraine began. Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev (pictured) was one of Vladimir Putin’s most senior commanders, in charge of the 8th All-Military Army of the Kremlin’s vast Southern Military District
The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018, although there have been reports of its use before then.
In June last year Russia mounted a massive military show of strength to taunt British forces in the eastern Mediterranean. MiG-31K supersonic warplanes carrying the hypersonic Kinzhals were deployed in a drill from Putin’s airbase in Syria.
Reports in the state run media made clear the exercises were specifically timed to coincide with the British Royal Navy’s deployment of a strike group led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Today, the Russian defence ministry also said it had deployed Bastion coastal missiles at electronic intelligence centres in the Odessa region.
In December 2021, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the appearance of a separate aviation regiment armed with MiG-31K aircraft with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
Earlier Putin said that the country began to create hypersonic weapons ‘in response to the US deployment of a strategic missile defence system.’
Russia’s announcement of the missile strike came as Kyiv’s army high command claimed to have killed a fifth Moscow general since the war in Ukraine began.
Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev was one of Vladimir Putin’s most senior commanders, in charge of the 8th All-Military Army of the Kremlin’s vast Southern Military District.
Moscow did not initially confirm his death in keeping with most previous claims of the ‘liquidation’ of Generals.
Ukraine now claims to have killed five holding the rank of General.
‘As a result of fire on the enemy by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the commander of the 8th All-Military Army of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvishev was killed,’ said a statement from the army general staff in Kyiv.
First published in Daily Mail (UK)
