Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told RIA Novosti that “Russia did not launch that number of Kinjal missiles, which (Ukraine) says it shot down”.
“The number of these Ukrainian objections is three times greater than what we launched,” said the Russian minister quoted by “Agence France Presse”.
Ukraine announced earlier on Tuesday that it had shot down six Kinjal missiles, a key weapon for Russia that has boosted its long-range strike capabilities.
“Another remarkable feat by the Ukrainian Air Force! Last night the defenders of our skies shot down six Russian Kinjal hypersonic missiles and 12 more,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech addressed to the Council of Europe during a videoconference that “one hundred percent” of Russian missiles fired into Ukrainian territory between Monday and Tuesday were intercepted.
The Kinjal is a type of weapon that Russian President Vladimir Putin calls “invincible” because its hypersonic speed allows it to avoid being intercepted by most air defense systems.
Ukraine announced for the first time that it had shot down a Russian Kinjal missile in early May using the powerful American Patriot counter-defense system, delivered to Kyiv in April.
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