The Russian army fired eight ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital. This is the second incident in a month.
On the morning of Monday, December 11, the Russians attacked Kyiv with missiles. At the same time, an air raid warning began to sound in the capital after the first explosions. As the Air Force explained, this happened due to the fact that the invaders fired very fast flying ballistic missiles. Read the story for what is known about the situation and the danger from these missiles.
Consequences of the attack
So, at about 4 o’clock in the morning, the Russian army fired eight ballistic missiles at Kyiv from the northern direction – from the Bryansk region. The air defense forces destroyed all enemy units.
While repelling the strike, rocket debris fell in the Darnitsky district of the capital. In particular, four residents of Bortnichi were injured; doctors treated them immediately. Several private houses in the neighborhood were damaged.
Also, a fragment of a rocket was found on the territory of a warehouse store in the Darnitsky district. There was no fire or damage to the building.
In addition, in one of the communities in the Kyiv region, debris was recorded falling in the courtyard of a residential building. The fence and the building itself were damaged.
“Fly very fast”
The Speaker of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ignat, explained why the air raid alert was announced in Kyiv after the explosions. According to him, the invaders fired ballistic missiles that flew at high speed.
“You know what ballistics are, so the time to declare an air raid alert is limited. This is not the first time this has happened, because ballistics fly very fast. It literally takes a few minutes to respond and destroy the air defense. They, ” he says.
Ignat added that it was not yet clear what type of ballistic missiles the Russians attacked the capital that night. Experts are currently studying the engines of the downed missiles to determine their type.
Secrets of ballistics
These are ballistic missiles that are one of the most difficult targets for the Ukrainian air defense forces, because they fly along a ballistic trajectory (are in uncontrolled motion), cover long distances, and are launched from stationary and mobile installations from the territory of the Russian Federation.
In general, as military expert Alexei Getman said, Russia has seven types of ballistic missiles, but mostly uses Iskanders, and then Tochka-U, Luna-M, which are quite outdated. According to him, at the beginning of the full invasion, the occupying army had about a thousand such missiles, and now there are only over a hundred.
A ballistic missile differs from a cruise missile in that it flies on a ballistic trajectory. In other words, it has the ability to rise high and attack vertically from above. Cruise missiles can be continuously maneuvered, like an airplane without a pilot.
The range of Iskander is up to a thousand kilometers and this missile does not fly exactly like a projectile (it rises in the sky and falls), but has the ability to slightly change the direction of movement during flight. Tochka-U has an average range of 100-120 kilometers, does not maneuver, but moves along a specific trajectory.
The Russians also have Luna-M ballistic missiles. They were made in the 1960s and flew 70-80 km. The most dangerous are ballistic intercontinental missiles, such as SS-20, SS-22, Topol, Sarmat, etc. They rise into space and then fly through inertia like a meteorite, and fall due to gravity.
“Almost all ballistic missiles are a very difficult target for the interception of air defense systems, regardless of whether the missile is old or new. This in itself is difficult to intercept,” said military expert Alexander Kovalenko.
Iranian shells
In early October, Ukrainian intelligence received information about Russia’s purchase of Iranian Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, announced that the enemy could launch these missiles in Ukraine in early November.
To understand, the power of the Fateh-110 warhead is 2-2.3 times greater than the Russian Kalibr-type cruise missile.
“If we consider the ballistic missiles that are in Iran’s service (they can be provided by the Russian Federation), then the main ones are the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar. But the Zolfaghar missile poses a greater threat than those Russian ballistic missiles fired from the Iskander OTRK. Since this is a combat missile part of the Zolfaghar is separated from the upper stage, which significantly complicates the process of its interception. That is, even the Iskanders do not possess this,” added Kovalenko.
Western systems IRIS-T, NASAMS or Patriot are important for the Ukrainian military, but they still belong to air defense (AD), not missile defense (ABM). The main task of air defense is primarily the destruction of aerodynamic targets such as cruise missiles.
Yes, air defense systems can also shoot down ballistic ones, which is what the Ukrainian Armed Forces are doing now, but it is very difficult. The power of their warheads is often not enough to neutralize these missiles – so it is still a task for missile defense systems. Let’s remember that there are no such systems in service in the world, in particular NATO countries.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.