@Gary looks like one of the patriot batteries has been hit. (partially) This is getting really interesting!
Dozens Of Interceptors Fired As Kyiv Faced Most Complex Barrage Yet
Russia is throwing everything it’s got at Kyiv and Ukraine’s new Patriot batteries, which are likely the top targets, are responding in kind.
In an air defense response that lit up the night sky over Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say they downed all 18 missiles fired, including six
Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, nine Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles and three ground-launched missiles, as well as several drones. The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) meanwhile claimed that a Kinzhal struck one of two
U.S.-provided MIM-104 Patriot missile systems in the latest attack against that air defense system.
“The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation launched a combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the AFU units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons, and military equipment supplied by Western countries,” the Russian MoD claimed on its Telegram channel. "The goal of the attack has been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralized. U.S.-manufactured Patriot surface-to-air missile system has been struck by Kinzhal hypersonic glide vehicle in Kyiv.”
It's worth noting that Kinzhal is not a hypersonic glide vehicle at all, it's an air-launched variant of the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile with hypersonic endgame performance. Hypersonic glide vehicles are an entirely different category of weapon. Whether this was simply wrong information or an anomaly of the translation is unclear.
In an apparent response to the Russian claim that drips with snark, but offers no direct denial, the Ukrainian MoD Tweeted out that the Russian MoD's "press service is more powerful than most countries' armies. Russia doesn't even need an army to conquer the entire world; its state media and MoD spokesperson konashenkov [sic] are more than adequate."
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said Russia’s claims were “pure propaganda and pure lies,”
according to the Financial Times newspaper.
The Russian claim comes after video emerged showing dozens of what appear to be Patriot air defense interceptors launched at objects over Kyiv.
There were also unsubstantiated claims that a flash of light near where the SAMs originated as observed in the video was the result of a strike or possibly an interceptor malfunction, but we just don't know at this point exactly what happened.
Images also emerged on social media claiming to show remnants of a Patriot PAC-3 CRI interceptor.
View attachment 57461
The War Zone is unable to independently verify either image, although the Patriot PAC-3 CRI does look very much like the missile shown.
The Ukrainian Air Force did not immediately comment on Russia's claim about the Patriot being hit, but said that around 3:30 A.M. on May 16, 2023, “the Russian invaders attacked Ukraine from the north, south, and east with 18 missiles of various types, air, sea, and land-based.”
That attack included “six Kh-47M2 ‘Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles” launched from six
MiG-31K Foxhound heavy interceptors, nine Kalibr cruise missiles launched from ships in the Black Sea, and three land-based missiles including the S-400 air defense missile and the
Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile.
“All missiles were destroyed by the forces and means of air defense of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Air Force reported on its Telegram channel Tuesday.
“In addition, on the night of May 16, the enemy attacked with attack drones of the Shahed-136/131 type, and also conducted aerial reconnaissance with three operational-tactical drones - ‘Orlan-10,’ ‘SuperCam.’ All - destroyed!”
We reached out to the Ukrainian Air Force, its spokesman as well as the Pentagon for responses. We will update this story with any information provided.
Last night’s barrage follows one last week in which Ukraine claims to have downed a Kinzhal with a Patriot interceptor. You can read more about that
here.
Last night’s barrage was the “eighth air attack on Kyiv since the beginning of May!” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, also known by its Ukrainian acronym, KMVA, wrote on the organization’s Telegram channel Tuesday. “This time, the enemy launched a complex attack from different directions simultaneously, using UAVs, cruise missiles and probably ballistic missiles. It was exceptional in its density - the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time.”
KMVA said that according to preliminary information, “the vast majority of enemy targets in the airspace of Kyiv were detected and destroyed! Data on the number and type of missiles will soon be reported by the Air Force.”
“Previously, the fall of debris was recorded in Solomyansky, Shevchenkivskyi, Svyatoshynskyi, Obolonskyi and Darnytskyi districts of the capital. The biggest damage was in the Solomyansk district - there was a fire in a non-residential building and several units of automobile equipment.”
The fire has been extinguished, KMVA reported.
“In the rest of the districts, the damage is not significant - in most of them it was found that debris fell on parked cars, the adjacent territory or the forest park zone. At the moment, there is no information about the victims! Operational summary data is collected and refined. We thank our Air Defense Forces for saving the lives of Kyivans!"
Russia is throwing everything it's got at Kyiv and Ukraine's new Patriot batteries, which are likely the top targets, are responding in kind.
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