Ukraine’s Air Defense Repels World’s Largest Combined Missile Attack Using Hypersonic Weapons

Using the US-made Patriot air defense system, Ukraine downed 10 out of 10 of Russia’s “Kinzhal” Kh-47M2 hypersonic aeroballistic missiles that were fired at Ukrainian cities Tuesday, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny posted on X.

Along with much of Kyiv, reporters at Kyiv Post woke up early on Tuesday to the sounds of explosions and shaking walls from one of the most massive Russian bombardments in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“So far this day, almost a hundred missiles of various types have been launched, and the enemy has planned their trajectories to cause as much damage as possible. This is an utterly premeditated terror,” Zelensky said Tuesday.

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

Taras Chmut, a marine and the head of Come Back Alive, one of Ukraine’s largest charitable organizations, noted that no country has ever repelled such an attack:

“Thank your familiar air defense personnel – today they successfully repelled the world’s largest combined missile attack using hypersonic weapons,” Chmut posted on X.

Along with the 10 Kinzhals, Russia fired 62 Kalibr cruise missiles and 35 of the Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones at Ukraine, Zaluzhny said.

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This vessel, built in 2010, was seized by Russia from Ukraine during the 2014 annexation of Crimea but has remained largely unused in recent years.

The Patriot system was designed before the appearance of hypersonic missiles such as the Kh-47M2, but its deployment in Ukraine has demonstrated that it is effective in intercepting them.

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

On that day alone, according to the AP, Russia used 122 missiles and dozens of drones in an 18-hour bombardment that cost it at least $1.273 billion. According to Forbes, the Tuesday attack on Ukraine likely cost Russia about $620 million.

Not long after the missile attack, in a telephone call with the Ukrainian president, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to steadfastly continue its support of Ukraine and with Western allies, help Ukraine to replenish the country’s air defenses.

“With every missile, Putin shows that he wants to destroy #Ukraine. The Patriots & IRIS-T supplied by us save lives every day. We stand by the people of Ukraine as long as they need us and everyday life without fear & terror is possible,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X.