While Kiev claimed it had intercepted six Kinzhals, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Sputnik in an interview that Ukrainian reports are mistaken in every regard, noting that only a couple of Russian missiles were enough to penetrate Kiev's defenses.
"According to verified information, as a result of a strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kiev a multifunctional radar station, as well as five launchers of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system manufactured by the United States were hit and completely destroyed on May 16, 2023," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Kinzhal (lit. "Dagger") is one of new strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018. It first entered combat duty in December 2017, seeing extensive flight and combat testing. The nuclear-capable weapon was the first hypersonic missile system to be fielded by any country.
The Kinzhal has a range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles). It is capable of reaching a speed of up to Mach 10 (12,250 km/h or 7,612 mph) while also performing evasive maneuvers, which helps the Kinzhal to be virtually invulnerable to enemy air missile defense systems.
Unstoppable Kinzhal: One US-Made Patriot 'Cracked Up', More to Come
Russia's knocking-out of the US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system stationed in Kiev with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile is a PR coup for Moscow, Boris Rozhin, a military expert with the Center for Military-Political Journalism, told Sputnik, adding that more Patriots may soon be "cracked up" too.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that a Patriot system had been hit by a Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile in Kiev on May 16.
The Kinzhal launch came amid the Russian Armed Forces' "combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons and military equipment supplied by Western countries," according to the statement. Presently, the Ukrainian military possesses two Patriot complexes.
"Russia scored an important victory for its image," said Rozhin. "It showed that this [Patriot] complex, despite all the PR fuss around it, is quite vulnerable, and if desired, Russia can disable it. (…) And, accordingly, having destroyed one complex, Russia will look for the next ones that are there."
Footage purportedly of Russia's Kinzhal missile hitting the Patriot air defense system in Kiev has already created hype on social media.
In the video, the extremely dense work of the batteries of the American MIM-104 Patriot air defense system can be seen. As soon as the air defense system runs out of missiles, a powerful explosion occurs at the place where the launches were made.
According to Rozhin, the footage in question debunked Kiev's attempts to lie that "everything is fine." The Western mainstream media rushed to claim that the US-made system had not been completely taken down, but only "damaged." However, it's clear that the Russian strike made the Patriot non-operational, even if just a single element of the sophisticated complex was destroyed, according to the military expert. He added that it would take much time and effort to fix it.
"The Russian Ministry of Defense is in no hurry to disclose how the attack was organized," continued Rozhin. "Apparently, initially there were various drones and missiles that lured the work of enemy air defense systems, including the Patriot, and after a specific area of operation of the Patriot air defense system was identified, it was hit by the Kinzhal hypersonic system. Actually, in the footage published by the bloggers, it is clearly seen that before the missile hit the Patriot position area, apparently, the crew noticed that the target was not some object in Kiev, but themselves. A massive launch of missiles was carried out [by the Patriot], 32 missiles were fired to intercept the Kinzhal, they could not bring it down, and accordingly, the Kinzhal hit the target."
The military expert noted that Western press assessed the massive missile launch as a sign that the Patriot's crew panicked. That is, they decided that if they fire all missiles at once, then, perhaps, at least one of them would hit the Kinzhal. Alas, all their calculations were proven wrong.
On the one hand, this situation has been interpreted as a result of insufficient training of the Ukrainian crew. On the other, if the Patriot complex was operated by the foreign military, it would look even worse for the West, meaning that the crew's failure to intercept the hypersonic missile apparently cost them several lives of NATO officers or instructors, according to Rozhin.
Furthermore, the aforementioned footage demonstrated that even a massive launch of missiles is incapable of stopping the Kinzhal. It likewise showed that the Patriot is out-of-date, as per the military expert, who recalled that, previously, Saudi Arabia subjected the US-made air defense system to tough criticism for not meeting the stated specifications.
"The Patriot is a system of the past," Rozhin said. "The Patriot must provide air defense due to a large number of missiles, through interaction with other systems, including electronic warfare systems, and AWACS aircraft. They should, by default, shoot down aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. The Patriot PAC-2 and the Patriot PAC-3 are the two main versions currently exploited around the world, in the US and various countries. But even during the war in Yemen, it became clear that even though the PAC-3 was said to be effective against Iranian cruise ballistic missiles, some objects that were covered by these [air defense] complexes were nonetheless hit by Iranian missiles. In this regard, the Patriot remains quite effective against aircraft and missiles of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s. (…) [However] the Patriot does not have any means of fighting against hypersonic weapons. When this complex was created, there was no such a task," he concluded.
Watch Russian Airborne Troops and BMD-4M Crush a Ukrainian Stronghold
The Russian Armed Forces used infantry fighting vehicles known as BMD-4M – a cutting-edge machine that uses satellite navigation systems and features a digital computer control system.
A group of Russian BMD-4M combat vehicles approached enemy positions and opened direct fire. The crews used 30 mm automatic cannons and 100 mm cannons, rendering results in moments. Victorious, the armored group returned to the safe area.
BMD-4 is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle created in Russia after the end of Cold War. Russian military specialists dub it "technology of the future," capable of roving in different climatic conditions. the BMD-4 were airdropped and tested in water – and this also means that they were redeployed at sea.
You can also watch this video on Sputnik's Odysee Channel.
This fighting vehicle proved to be quite instrumental in protecting the people of Donbass against Kiev's attacks.
"A hunt has been declared for us, but we will also hunt for them" - a crew commander told Sputnik about the advantages of the Terminator combat vehicle.
The Terminator combat vehicle is designed to provide support to tanks, it amplifies their strength while effectively neutralizing threats on the battlefield. This vehicle possesses the capability to engage targets at long ranges, including moving objects, helicopters, and even enemy tanks. It has a large arsenal of arms including grenade launchers, thirty-caliber armor-piercing cartridges, and high-explosive shells.
Russia fields new artillery system
Russia’s first-ever wheeled self-propelled howitzer, the 2S43 Malva, has successfully completed trials and will enter service, Director of Uralvagonzavod Aleksandr Potapov said on Wednesday.
The weapon has been described by the media as Moscow’s answer to French-made Caesar howitzers, some of which were delivered to Ukraine last year.
“Yes, the Malva should soon join [the troops]. Everything is fine with it,” Potapov told TASS news agency on the sidelines of the MILEX-2023 arms expo in Minsk, Belarus.
Equipped with a 152-mm gun, the Malva (Mallow) is designed to fire at a wide range of targets, including enemy artillery batteries and armored convoys. It is more mobile and less expensive to produce than tracked systems.
The Russian authorities have ordered an increase in defense production in the wake of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, launched more than a year ago. Last month, Russia’s newest heavy tank T-14 Armata was first deployed to the frontline.
Kiev is currently gearing up for a much-touted counteroffensive that Ukrainian officials say will start in the nearest future. Ukraine has stressed many times that the operation’s success will heavily depend on the deliveries of weapons from the West
Ukrainian spymaster calls for establishing 100-km demilitarized zone with Russia
Top Ukrainian intelligence official Kirill Budanov has proposed creating a 100-km-long demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia.
"The question of ending the war [involves] the creation of a demilitarized zone; this is our goal," the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate told the Ukrainian Islandia (Iceland) TV channel.
When further elaborating on the practical aspects of creating such a zone, Budanov said that, "this would be a zone that could not be attacked by the usual means." "In my view, this would absolutely be the right distance," the top intelligence official pointed out.
The Russian government had earlier repeatedly voiced its readiness to negotiate with Ukraine to reach a settlement of the conflict. At the same time, however, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that the main obstacle standing in the way of such talks was the prohibition on conducting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was legally enshrined by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decree of September 30, 2022, "as well as the initiatives of the Ukrainian head of state, which indicate official Kiev’s complete detachment from modern realities," including the demand to withdraw Russian troops from the new regions of the country. On February 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow did not see any desire on the part of the Ukrainian side to start a serious conversation on a peaceful settlement.
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