Ukrainian air defense shoots down 15 Russian Kinzhals - Air Force spokesman

Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said this in an interview with Ukrainian media Novynarnia.

"Now we have 15 downed Kinzhals. Plus dozens more intercepted ballistic missiles flying towards Kyiv. Patriot has proven itself," said Ihnat.

The Air Force representative highlighted that Patriot is primarily a ballistic missile interceptor.

"This is an extremely serious technology. Only a head-on collision guarantees the downing of a ballistic missile, and all this is done without human intervention. Our servicemen with combat experience in shooting down Kinzhals will become mentors not only for our cadets, but possibly for foreigners as well. Because no one in the world has ever shot down a Kinzhal using a Patriot system," explained the colonel.

Ihnat emphasized that it is extremely important to replace Soviet equipment with modern ones.

"In order to defend ourselves against ballistic missiles, we need to have ground-based systems with modern missiles, like the Patriot, which has proven to shoot down Kinzhals. It happened for the first time on May 4," the spokesman added.