Ukraine’s Air Force said Monday that the Russian Air Force used an air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile to strike military facilities in the Vinnytsia region.
“The tactical and technical characteristics of this missile do not allow the air defense means existing in the Armed Forces of Ukraine to effectively detect and destroy it,” Ukraine’s Air Force command wrote in a statement on Facebook.
The Kh-47M “Kinzhal” or “Dagger” missile can be conventionally or nuclear-armed. It has a strike range of more than 2,000km.
Kremlin claims its MiG-31-launched Kinzhal missile system is “unstoppable” by current Western weapons.
Hypersonic missiles are weapons designed to fly at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5, which is about 3,800 mph (6,100 kph). Their speed and ability to maneuver themselves to a target makes them extremely difficult to track and shoot down.
