Dmytro, an operator of a Patriot air defence system. Screenshot: Ukrainian Air Force
Ukraine’s Air Force has released a video featuring a Patriot air defence system operator who shot down a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile over Kyiv on 4 May 2023 – the first successful interception of such a missile.
Source: Ukrainian Air Force
Details: The operator’s surname is not disclosed, only his first name – Dmytro. He appears in the video with half of his face covered.
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Quote from Dmytro: “When the war began, I joined the military. I never thought that I, an ordinary programmer, would master the Patriot system and down the first Kinzhal missile.”
More details: Dmytro explained that at the time, he and his colleagues did not know that it was a Kinzhal missile targeting Kyiv.
Quote: “At the time we could see on the screen that it was a ballistic missile, but we initially thought it was just an Iskander. It was only after we found the fragments that we realised it was a Kinzhal. Everyone was overjoyed, we were all congratulating each other. Russia had claimed that the Kinzhal was impossible to intercept, but it turned out that anything can be shot down… This was the first time a hypersonic ballistic missile had ever been intercepted.”
Background:
- During the night of 4 May 2023, a Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile was successfully intercepted over Kyiv for the first time. The news was first reported by Defense Express on 5 May and confirmed by Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, on 6 May.
- It was later revealed that the Kinzhal was destroyed by anti-aircraft gunners from the 96th Brigade who had undergone less than three months of training. On 16 May, they consolidated their success by shooting down six more such missiles.
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