Russia uses combined strikes to break through Ukraine's air defense system – military expert Riabykh

Commenting on the latest Russian attack on Ukraine, the expert told Espreso that Kh-59 are tactical missiles and have certain limitations in terms of use due to their short range.

"Although, if we are talking about modern upgrades of the Kh-59MK-2 model, it can already fly up to almost 300 km. And in principle, this is a fairly serious missile, and they have been used since about April 2022, and they were primarily used against civilian infrastructure, including port infrastructure, as well as grain terminals in the Kirovohrad region," he said.

Riabykh noted that "this is a rather damaging missile" because it can have a warhead of up to 300 kg and hit targets of sufficient size.

"As for the salvo, the enemy faces certain difficulties due to the fact that it must be used in an organized manner as part of an aviation unit, which is still limited to deep echelon air defense. However, here we are talking about the fact that these missiles were used as part of a complex air strike that included, in addition to the Kh-59, another type of missile and many unmanned aerial vehicles. Therefore, we can state that the enemy is practicing the tactics of combined strikes and improving them to be able to penetrate the Ukrainian air defense system," the expert said.

• As a reminder, on October 16, during a night attack by Russian occupiers, the air defense forces destroyed 2 out of 5 Kh-59 missiles and 11 out of 12 Russian Shahed drones.