Moscow, 19 March 2022 (TDI): The Russian military has claimed to use the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in Ukraine for the first time since the war began.
Reportedly the state-of-the-art Kinzhals have been used to destroy an arms depot near the city of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, the strike with the air-launched missile system took place on Friday. He shared this update during a briefing.
Igor Konashenkov further briefed that the Kinzhal targeted “a large underground depot of missiles and aerial munitions of the Ukrainian forces” in the Ukrainian village of Deliatyn.
Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile
The Kh-47M2 or Kinzhal is a Russian nuclear-capable missile. It is a hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-ground missile. Kinzhal has a range of more than 2,000 km and is capable of performing evasive maneuvers.
Kinzhal means dagger in English. It was used by the Russian army for the first time ever since the commencement of the Ukrainian war on February 24.
The state-of-the-art hypersonic missile is able to pierce any existent air defenses by traversing at a speed of up to Mach 10. It can also constantly maneuver at every stage of its flight.
MiG-31K aircraft carries the Kinzhal missiles. MiG-31K is a supersonic interceptor aircraft and is dubbed as ‘Foxhound’ by NATO. The hardware of the Kinzhal missile is one of several hypersonic systems designed for the Russian military recently.
Kinzhal has been designed together with the Avangard glider, which is fitted on silo-based ICBMs, as well as Zircon (Tsirkon) missiles that have been developed for the navy.
Background of the Conflict
Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on 24th February following a seven-year standoff over Ukraine’s inability to enforce the terms of the Minsk agreements along with Russia’s recognition of the Donbas republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Russia now demands Ukraine to officially declare itself as a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. However, Ukraine insists that the Russian offensive is entirely unprovoked.
Likewise, the invaded country claims that it had no plan to retake the two republics by force; the Donbas republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
