Putin’s unstoppable missiles shot down by the Ukrainians: what we know about Kinzhal

“I want to say to everyone who in the last 15 years promoted an arms race, sought to gain a unilateral advantage over Russia, introduced illegal sanctions aimed at stopping the development of our country… you failed to stop Russia,” – Putin’s words in March 2018 quoted by the American media channel NBC News.

The Russian president then announced that Russia has a new set of nuclear weapons, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, which renders defense systems “useless”.

As quoted by NBC News, V. Putin said that the range of the mentioned intercontinental ballistic missile is greater than any other, and it can reach almost any target in the world.

“Kinzhal” was one of the six new generation Russian weapons presented by V. Putin at the time.

The Air Force of Ukraine reported on May 6 shot down a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known instance of the country successfully intercepting one of Moscow’s most advanced missiles.

“Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Air Force Commander Mykola Olešchuk wrote to Telegram. “It happened during a night attack on May 4 in the sky of the Kyiv region.”

Kyiv later announced that it had shot down all six of those missiles in another attack this week.

Russia, of course, denies that the “Kinzhal” has suffered a fiasco, but many Western media outlets note that the downing of this missile is a crucial incident that belies Russia’s military greatness.

15min tells what is known about Kinzhal missiles.