Ukrainian air defense forces shoot down Russian X-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile for the first time (photo)
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On the night of May 4, Ukrainian air defense for the first time shot down a Russian X-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces successfully intercepted a Russian X-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile for the first time at 02:40 a.m. on May 4 in the sky over Kyiv. The Kyiv City Military Administration officially reported the attack on the capital that night, adding that in addition to the Shahed kamikaze drones, there were also missiles, “probably of a ballistic type.”
Defense Express obtained photos of the wreckage, including a nose fairing with damage marks.
“Judging by the photos, the wreckage without a warhead fell at a stadium in the capital. One of the photos shows a nose fairing that is most similar to the one used in the X-47 Kinzhal missile with a complex shape of sharp diameter transitions,” the publication noted. Defense Express explains that the nose of another Russian ballistic missile, the X-22, looks different and has oval transitions.
Photos of the wreckage show that the missile was shot down in midair. The wreckage likely landed at one of Kyiv’s stadiums.
What could the Ukrainian Air Force have used to shoot down the hypersonic Kinzhal? Ukraine has recently received Patriot air defense systems that are capable of shooting down missiles flying on a ballistic trajectory. It is possible that they were used to shoot down the Kinzhal.
This is the first ballistic missile that Ukraine has managed to shoot down. Before we received the Patriot, we did not have air defense systems capable of intercepting the Kinzhal or X-22.
The missile was allegedly shot down on May 4 at around 02:40, when a loud explosion was heard on both sides of the capital.
