Ukraine shot down a Russian hypersonic missile with a US Patriot missile

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday that it shot down a Russian hypersonic missile over Kiev using its newly acquired US Patriot system, the first time it had intercepted one of Moscow’s most advanced missiles.

In a post on the social network Telegram, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote that a Kinzel-type ballistic missile was intercepted during a nighttime attack on the Ukrainian capital this week.

This is the first time that Ukraine has used American Patriot security systems.

“Yes, we shot down the ‘one’ Kinchal. This happened on the night of May 4 during an airstrike over the Kiev region,” Mykola Oleshchuk wrote.

The commander said the Kh-47 missile was launched by a MiG-31K aircraft, came from Russian territory and was shot down by a Patriot missile.

The Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons. The Russian military said the launched ballistic missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers and can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.

The combination of hypersonic speed and a heavier warship allows Kinsale to destroy heavily fortified targets such as underground ‘bunkers’ or mountain tunnels.

The Ukrainian military has already admitted it lacks the resources to intercept the Kinzels.

Ukraine received its first delivery of Patriot missiles in late April, coming from the United States (US), Germany and the Netherlands, although it did not specify how many systems it has received or has.

Germany admitted sending at least one system and the Netherlands considered sending two.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he first asked the patriotic organizations when he visited the United States in August 2021, months before Russia’s massive invasion, but seven years later Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Oleksii Reznikov described getting the system as “a dream come true” but said at the time he was told in the US that it was impossible.