Ukrainian officials have denied Russian claims that a U.S.-supplied Patriot air-defense system was destroyed in Kyiv by a Kinzhal-type hypersonic missile.
“Don’t worry about the fate of the Patriot [system],” Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, said in televised comments on May 17.
“Destroying the system with some kind of ‘Kinzhal’ is impossible. Everything [the Russians] say can remain in their propaganda archive.”
One day earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces had destroyed a Patriot battery in the Ukrainian capital with a Kinzhal.
“A high-precision strike by a Kinzhal hypersonic missile system hit a U.S.-made Patriot air-defense system in Kyiv,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.
Unveiled by Moscow in 2018 as a “next-generation” missile delivery system, the Kinzhal (“dagger” in Russian) is usually delivered from the air by MiG-31K fighter-interceptor aircraft.
Designed to strike targets both on land and at sea, Kinzhal missiles are said to be highly maneuverable. They also reportedly have an exceptionally low radar signature, making them extremely difficult to intercept.
Kinzhals Downed, Kyiv Claims
Kyiv has also recently claimed that Ukrainian air defenses had successfully downed six Kinzhal missiles in a single night.On May 16, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said a total of six Kinzhals–and a dozen other missiles–had been intercepted during a recent Russian barrage.
Ukrainian officials made a similar claim on May 6, when they said a Patriot missile battery had intercepted a Kinzhal—for the first time—on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Speaking on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk hailed the alleged shoot-down as a “historic event.”
At a May 9 press briefing, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder appeared to support Kyiv’s assertion.
“I’m not going to get into specifics—other than to say we can confirm that the Ukrainians took down this Russian missile with a Patriot missile-defense system,” he said.
Ryder declined to confirm whether the Patriot system in question had been provided to Ukraine by the United States, Germany, or the Netherlands.
Russian military officials have dismissed the claims outright.
On May 11, TASS cited a “highly placed Defense Ministry source” who described the Ukrainian claims as “wishful thinking.”
He claimed that Western-supplied air-defense systems couldn’t possibly counter the Kinzhal, because of the missile’s exceptionally high velocity.
The source accused Kyiv of “exaggerating” the efficiency of the Patriot system “to justify its over-expenditure of ammunition.”
According to the same source, the number of claimed Ukrainian missile intercepts “is two to three times greater than the number of missiles we actually fire.”
‘Legitimate Targets’
The Patriot is the most advanced U.S. surface-to-air missile system to be sent to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of the country early last year.First deployed by U.S. forces in the 1980s, Patriots are chiefly intended to intercept missiles, attack drones, and artillery shells. They can also be used offensively to target enemy aircraft.
Patriot systems are made up of launchers, radar, and auxiliary support vehicles. Patriot missiles reportedly cost about $4 million each; launchers are said to cost roughly $10 million apiece.
Germany has also reportedly provided Ukraine with at least one Patriot system, in addition to medium-range IRIS-T air-defense systems.
The first batch of U.S. Patriots was delivered to Ukraine late last month.
“Today our beautiful sky becomes more secure,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Twitter on April 20.
Ihnat said the Patriot systems would allow Ukrainian forces to intercept Russian targets from a much greater distance.
In December 2022, Washington unveiled a fresh $1.85-billion aid package for Ukraine, which included the first delivery of Patriot systems.
The announcement coincided with a visit to Washington by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he met his U.S. counterpart, President Joe Biden.
At the time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba voiced hope that the move would “open the door for other countries to do the same.”
The Kremlin described the move as a “dangerous escalation” that risked drawing the United States deeper into the conflict.
It also stated that the Patriot systems would be viewed as “legitimate targets” by Russian forces.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv and its Western allies decry the invasion as an unprovoked war of aggression.
Moscow has stated that its “special military operation” is aimed at protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and halting the eastward expansion of NATO.
