Russia launches record number of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine 

Yuriy Ihnat commented on Espreso on the difference between the missile attack on the territory of Ukraine on the night of March 9 and previous massive enemy missile attacks.

“The difference between today's attack is the Kinzhal missiles, the enemy has never launched them in such numbers before. There were six missiles of this type in this attack. It should also be added that the enemy used different types of air-, land- and sea-based missiles in this attack, flying from many directions. The waters of three seas were used: The Caspian, Azov and Black Seas. Missiles were also fired from the north. There were also Shahed drones in this large spectrum,” the spokesman for the Air Force Command noted. 

Ihnat added that missile shootdowns should be counted based on the air defense systems Ukraine has. On March 9, 34 cruise missiles out of 48 Kalibr, Kh-101, and Kh-555 were shot down.

“There are other missiles with ballistic missile trajectories, such as the Kinzhal, Kh-22, or S-300. The Kinzhal is also called the Kh-47 and is an air-launched ballistic missile, meaning that it is delivered to the upper atmosphere by a MiG-31K, which launches it from there. The Kinzal flies at high speed and descends vertically to the target. This speed adds even more destruction to the almost half-ton explosive part of the missile. We need to understand the danger of this missile, which can reach any part of Ukraine when launched from a MiG-31K aircraft. As we can see, every day a MiG-31K, a carrier of Kinzal missiles, takes off from either Belarus or Russia, and the air raid alarm is triggered throughout our country. According to unofficial reports, the enemy has up to fifty such missiles. These are the most scarce missiles in service with the Russian army today,” explained Ihnat.

• On March 9, Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles across Ukraine, causing deaths and injuries and damage to critical infrastructure.