Russia's Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile Destroys Ukrainian Command Post in Donbass

A Ukrainian command post in Donbass was destroyed by Russia’s Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ("Dagger") nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile.

"On the afternoon of April 11, near the village of Chasov Yar, Donetsk region, a Kinzhal aviation missile system destroyed a buried, well-defended command post of a grouping of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a press briefing Monday.

More Kinzhal attack to come

Russia used Kinzhal to hit Ukrainian targets for the first time on March 18. The missile destroyed an underground warehouse of missiles and ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. A day later, it said the military launched Kalibr cruise missiles and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles from the Black and Caspian Seas.

Briefing journalists regarding the first ever use of the hypersonic missile in a battle Konashenkov said, "I want to draw attention to the fact that the use of the hypersonic aero-ballistic missile, Kinzhal was carried out from a range of more than 1,000 km. The flight time of the hypersonic missile was less than 10 minutes."

Sounding ominous, Konashenkov said, that the use of the Kinzhal missile against military facilities of Ukraine as part of the special operation will continue.

This indicates that Russia has built up stockpiles of the Kinzhal missile and will continue to use it against Ukrainian strategic targets.

While Konashenkov did not specify how the missile was launched, currently, only the MiG-31 high-altitude fighter jet has been modified to carry the Kinzhal missile which it launches from an altitude of 20000-25000 m.

Kinzhal was developed by the Tactical Missiles Corporation of Russia. It has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km, Mach 12 speed, and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors.