This is the first time that Ukraine has announced the downing of a full batch of multiple hypersonic missiles, and if confirmed, it will be proof of the effectiveness of Western air defenses that have been deployed recently, according to Reuters .
And early on Tuesday, sirens sounded almost throughout Ukraine, and in Kyiv and the surrounding area they sounded for more than 3 hours.
“The enemy’s task is to sow panic and create chaos. However, everything is under full control in the northern area of ​​operations (which includes Kiev),” said General Serhiy Nayev, commander of the joint forces of the Ukrainian armed forces. .
The six “Kinjal” missiles, ballistic missiles that reach speeds 10 times the speed of sound, were among 18 Russia launched into Ukraine overnight, flooding Kiev with missile debris exploding into the sky.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it succeeded in destroying a US-made surface-to-air missile defense system with a “Kingal” missile, according to the ministry’s “Zvezda” news site.
However, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, said that all missiles were successfully intercepted.
And the authorities of the city of the Ukrainian capital announced that 3 people were injured as a result of falling missile debris.
“The attack was exceptional in terms of intensity. The highest number of missile attacks in the shortest period of time,” the head of the military administration in Kiev, Serhiy Popko, said via Telegram.
Zvezda quoted the Russian ministry as saying the attacks targeted Ukrainian combat units and ammunition storage sites.
Zaluzhny said Kiev forces intercepted 6 “Kinjal” missiles launched by aircraft, 9 “Caliber” cruise missiles launched by ships in the Black Sea and 3 Iskander missiles launched from land bases.
Earlier this month, Ukraine said it had shot down a single “Kinjal” missile over Kiev for the first time, using the recently deployed US Patriot air defense system.
from “Kingal”
• “Kinjal” missiles, whose name means “dagger”, can carry conventional or nuclear warheads over a range of up to two thousand kilometres.
• The first time Russia used these missiles in wars was in Ukraine last year, and it rarely admits they were launched.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that this is proof of the global superiority of Russian military equipment and its ability to confront the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
As Ukrainian forces prepare to launch an offensive for the first time in 6 months, Russia is now launching long-range airstrikes.
Last week, Ukraine made its biggest battlefield gains since November, as it reclaimed several square kilometers of land in the northern and southern outskirts of the city of Bakhmut, where violent fights. Moscow has acknowledged the withdrawal of some of its forces. , but she denies the collapse of her soldiers in combat position.
Kiev says these developments are limited and do not yet represent the full force of the expected counterattack, and plans to use hundreds of modern tanks and armored vehicles that the West has sent to Ukraine this year.
And with the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the war will enter the next major phase of the war after a massive Russian winter offensive reportedly failed to capture significant new territory despite the bloodiest ground battles in Europe since the Second World War. World War.
Meanwhile, European leaders will gather in Iceland on Tuesday for a two-day Council of Europe summit aimed at showing their support for Ukraine.
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