Russia's Hypersonic Kinzhal Missile Downed Near Kyiv, Ukraine Says

A Russian hypersonic missile has been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses for the first time, Ukraine's military has said, calling it "a slap in the face" for the Kremlin.

Ukraine's Air Force said the Kh-47 Kinzhal (or "Dagger") was downed by a U.S. Patriot air defense system just outside Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, during an early morning attack on May 4.

Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram on Saturday, May 6: "I congratulate the Ukrainian people on the historic event. Yes, we shot down the 'unparalleled' Kinzhal."

Newsweek has been unable to verify the claims, and has contacted the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Russia via email for comment.

Kinzhals are among Russia's most modern missiles. According to the Russian military, they have a range of up to 1,250 miles and can reach speeds of 7,600 miles per hour—about 10 times the speed of sound. The weapon has previously been deemed unbeatable by Russia.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat had initially denied on May 5 that evidence of ballistic missiles had been found in relation to the attack.

However, he later told Ukrainian television that the Kinzhal downing was "a slap in the face for Russia."

"They were saying that the Patriot is an outdated American weapon, and Russian weapons are the best in the world," he told Channel 24. "Well, there is confirmation that it effectively works against even a super-hypersonic missile."

Ukraine took its first delivery of the Patriot missiles in late April. They are known to have been provided by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.

Hours after the alleged attack, Kyiv officials reported on Telegram that "all enemy missiles were destroyed," including drones and missiles "probably of the ballistic type."

Ukrainian publication Defense Express published photos on May 5 reportedly showing one of the downed missiles, which its analysis suggested had similarities to the Kinzhal.

Kyiv Post special correspondent Jason Jay Smart later shared on Twitter the images first published by Defense Express. The images have not been verified by Newsweek.

Speaking about Kinzhal missiles in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that all available anti-missile defense systems were powerless against them.

"One speed of sound is one Mach, from one to five—supersonic; from five or more—hypersonic. Possession of such a weapon, of course, gives serious advantages in the field of armed struggle," Putin said. "Its power, as military experts say, can be enormous, and speed makes it invulnerable to today's missile defense and air defense systems, since anti-missiles, in simple terms, simply cannot catch up with them.

"In this regard, it is understandable why the world's leading armies strive to have such an ideal weapon for today. Russia has such weapons. They already have them."

Correction 5/9/23, 06:40 a.m. ET: A previous version of this article suggested the Kyiv Post's Jason Jay Smart shared video footage purporting to show the Kinzhal being downed. This was not the case; the footage showed an unrelated downing of a drone.

Update 5/9/23, 06:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated throughout.