Ukraine’s Air Defense Force defeats world’s largest combined missile attack using hypersonic weapons

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Supreme Commander Valery Zarzhny used the US-made Patriot air defense system to defeat 10 of the 10 Russian Kinzhal Kh-47M2 hypersonic air-ballistic missiles fired at Ukrainian cities. I posted on X that I had shot it down.

Like much of Kiev, Kiev Post reporters heard explosions and walls shake early Tuesday from one of the heaviest Russian artillery shells in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The sound woke me up.

“To date, about 100 missiles of various types have been launched, and the enemy has planned their trajectory to cause as much damage as possible. This is a completely planned terrorist attack,” President Zelenskiy said on Tuesday. Told.

At least five people were killed and dozens injured, but had the missiles successfully penetrated Ukraine’s air defenses, the results would have been catastrophic.

Taras Chumut, a Marine and head of Come Back Alive, one of Ukraine’s largest charities, pointed out that no country has ever repelled such an attack.

“Thank you to our familiar air defense personnel. Today they successfully repelled the world’s largest combined missile attack using hypersonic weapons,” Chumut wrote on X.

In addition to the 10 Kinzhals, Russia launched 62 Kalibr cruise missiles and 35 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones into Ukraine, Zarzhini said.

The Patriot system was designed before the advent of hypersonic missiles such as the Kh-47M2, but its deployment in Ukraine proved effective at intercepting hypersonic missiles.

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Russia has used about 300 missiles and more than 200 drones against Ukraine since Dec. 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on Tuesday.

On that day alone, Russia used 122 missiles and dozens of drones in an 18-hour bombing campaign that cost at least $1.273 billion, according to the Associated Press. Tuesday’s attack on Ukraine may have cost Russia about $620 million, according to Forbes.

Shortly after the missile attack, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed in a telephone conversation with Ukraine’s president to remain steadfast in its support of Ukraine and to work with Western allies to help improve Ukraine’s air defenses.

“With every missile, President Putin has shown his desire to destroy Ukraine. The Patriots and IRIS-T we provide save lives every day. We will continue to do so for as long as the Ukrainian people need us. And we will support them as long as it is possible to live a daily life free of fear and terror,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock. I wrote to X.