Ukraine Says it Can’t Intercept Russian X-22 Missiles

Ukraine has confessed that the Russian X-22 (Kh-22) supersonic missile is too fast to be intercepted, and refuted reports claiming that it shot down one of them.

"I have been talking about this for half a year already - we cannot shoot down X-22 missiles. This is a supersonic missile, the speed of 4,000 kmph in flight. We have no means capable of intercepting this missile in the air," spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday morning.

Also read: Kyiv Needs Patriot PAC-3 to Intercept Russian X-22 Missile

On January 15, more than 20 people died after a Kh-22 missile hit an apartment block in Dnipro, central Ukraine.

"This missile with a 950 kg (2,000-pound) warhead, which is called an 'aircraft carrier killer,' is designed to destroy aircraft carrier groups at sea. It can be equipped with a nuclear element. And such a missile was used to hit a densely populated city. There is no explanation or justification for this terrorist act," Ihnat had stated.

The heavy 1960s-era Kh-22 missiles were primarily designed to destroy aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead. It has a claimed range of 600km. To aim at the target, it uses a radar homing head, which makes it extremely difficult to “see” ground objects. When the Kh-22 is used in ground attacks with conventional warheads, they are said to be highly inaccurate and therefore can cause severe collateral damage and casualties. The weight of the high-explosive warhead of Kh-22 is around 900-1000 kg, which leads to large-scale destruction.

“In some news reports, it was reported that someone shot it down somewhere, they probably took another missile for this one. It happens. There were several messages, and propaganda picked them up,” Ihnat explained. He stressed that there are moments of inaccuracies, as information is provided quickly.

Ukraine’s Air Force claimed Russia fired more than 210 X-22 missiles on its territory. “Not a single one was shot down by air defense means,"  the service admitted, adding that the military is in need of Western equipment like the Patriot to defeat them.