Russia-Ukraine War: Moscow Fires Kinzhal Hypersonic Missiles On Ukraine

As per the reports, it was the first utilization of the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons in a “special military operation” in pro-Western Ukraine. The defense ministry claimed Russia launched its latest Kinzhal missile systems for the very first strike in Ukraine on Friday to eliminate a weaponry stack in the West. Russia has not confessed to employing the elevated weapon in warfare before. State broadcaster RIA Novosti said that the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were used for the first time amid the crisis in pro-Western Ukraine.

What was Russia’s say on launching hypersonic missiles?

“A big hidden storage housing missiles and aircraft equipment in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk area was blasted by the Kinzhal air missile mechanism with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles,” the Russian defense department announced on Saturday

What is Khinzhal Missile?

Kinzhal, a word that implies dagger in Arabic, reaches a top speed of 4,900 km/h and is capable of reaching a top speed of 12,350 km/h, according to statistics.

Kinzhal was labelled a game-changer as Russia put it to the test. Analysts are looking keenly to see if the installation of Kinzhal brings a new shift in the battle now that it appears to have been used in the conflict that has been ongoing for the previous few weeks. Kinzhal is a hypersonic missile that can be launched from the air and has a reach of 1,500-2,000 kilometres. It has a nuclear lift capacity of 480 kg. According to sources, this is 33 times the intensity of the Fat Man bomb unleashed on Hiroshima.

The Kinzhal was supposedly revealed in March 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts believe Kinzhal was inspired by the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile, fired from the ground. Kinzhal moves to 4,900 km per hour after takeoff and is expected to attain a top speed of 12,350 km per hour. Kinzhal is said to be capable of launching a powerful strike.