Russia announces 1st use of hypersonic missiles in Ukraine
International Desk, Mar 19 (EFE).- Russia said Saturday that Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were used for an airstrike the previous day on a military warehouse in western Ukraine.
The first-ever use of hypersonic missiles came three weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the “Kinzhal aviation missile system” destroyed an underground depot containing missiles and aerial ammunition in Deliatyn, a village in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, which shares a border with NATO member Romania.
Russia’s official news agency, TASS, reported that video “recorded a pinpoint missile strike on an underground hangar containing weapons and ammunition.”
The Ukrainian Army confirmed the attack on the military depot, but did not say whether it was carried out with Kinzhal missiles, Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper said.
“There were statements about the Kinzhal, of which the Russians are proud, but we don’t know what kind of weapon was used and we can’t confirm it yet,” a military spokesman told the online paper.
The Russian hypersonic ballistic missile was presented to the world in March 2018, when the first test was carried out.
Moscow says that the weapon is capable of circumventing air defense systems.
The Kinzhal (“dagger”) has a range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) and can travel at 10 times the speed of sound. EFE
int-mos/ch/dr
