VIDEO
Patriot systems downed 15 Russian Kinzhal missiles since May
Kanal13
1.59M
1-1-2024 12:00 a.m. EST
1:32 Minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHRw8WpeC8
American Patriot anti-aircraft systems have downed 15 Russian Kinzhal missiles over Ukraine since 4 May 2023.
Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said this. “Patriot is able to down ballistic and aeroballistic missiles such as Kinzhal. The first supposedly unrivalled Kinzhal Kh-47 M2 missile was shot down on 4 May. So we started counting on that day. Then there were six more, then another six, and as of now, we have downed 15 Kinzhal missiles using the Patriot system, which is very good news for us.”
Ihnat noted, however, that Ukraine has “few” Patriot systems. “A few batteries are not enough,” he added.
Ihnat also said that Russia has deployed over 7,500 missiles of all types against Ukraine during its full-scale war.
First unveiled by Putin in 2018, the Russian president once dubbed the Kinzhal missiles, also known as “KILLJOY,” as “super weapons” that would be “unkillable.” In a report from last month, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense noted that the missiles’ actual performance on the battlefield has been “mixed.”
“KILLJOY has almost certainly had a mixed combat debut,” the ministry’s report explained. “Many of its launches have likely missed their intended targets, while Ukraine has also succeeded in intercepting attacks by this supposedly ‘undefeatable’ system.”