Ukraine's air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems.
A combination of hypersonic speed and a heavy warhead allows the Kinzhal to destroy heavily fortified targets, like underground bunkers or mountain tunnels."They were saying that the Patriot is an outdated American weapon, and Russian weapons are the best in the world," Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on Ukraine's Channel 24 television. "Well, there is confirmation that it effectively works against even a super hypersonic missile," Ihnat said.
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he first asked for Patriot systems when visiting the U.S. in August 2021, months before Russia's full-scale invasion but seven years after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. At such a cost, it was widely thought that Ukraine would only use the Patriots against Russian aircraft or hypersonic missiles.
Ukraine has not said when it might launch the counteroffensive, but it is widely anticipated this spring. "I don't want to suggest that they may or may not conduct an offensive operation in the coming weeks," he said. "That'll be up to them. They've got a significant amount of planning and coordination and all of that to do, if they were to do an offensive operation. But they're prepared to do offense or defense."
Also on Saturday, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces accused Russia of using phosphorous munitions in its attempt to wrest control of the eastern city of Bakhmut from Ukrainian forces.
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