War for heaven. What was the purpose of the Russian missile attack?

The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces repelled the world’s largest joint missile attack using hypersonic weapons.

On the morning of January 2, Russia launched another massive missile attack on Ukrainian territory. Its peculiarity is that almost the entire force of the strike fell on two cities – Kyiv and Kharkov.

Therefore, around 6 am, 16 Tu-95MS bombers fired at least 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-launched cruise missiles. And from 7:30 am, the launch of ten Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from MiG-31K fighters was recorded. The Russians also attacked from the sea with three Caliber cruise missiles, and from the north with 12 ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M/S-300/S-400 type.

Thus, today’s strike is the largest combined missile attack in the world using hypersonic weapons. The goal of the conquerors now goes beyond the story.

Consequences of the strike in Kyiv and the region

According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, the air defense forces removed 72 of the 99 missiles of various types. In turn, the chairman of the board of the fund You come back alive Taras Chmut added that no country in the world has fought with such weapons and has never repelled such an attack.

Despite the incredible work of the Ukrainian military, in Kyiv, falling debris was recorded in eight of the capital’s ten districts: Shevchenko, Obolonsky, Pechersky, Podolsky, Solomensky, Svyatoshinsky, Darnytsky and Desnyansky.

In particular, the worst damage was in the Solomensky district, where rocket debris fell near high-rise buildings. As a result, two houses were burned and more than 30 people were injured. An 81-year-old woman also died. Rescuers evacuated more than 130 people from a partially destroyed house.

In addition, a fire broke out in another high-rise building in Obolon, and in the microdistrict of Bortnichi, dozens of private residential buildings and a church building were damaged.

In the Podolsk region, as a result of falling debris, a warehouse was burned, a gas pipe was damaged, two car dealerships were also occupied, 29 cars were completely burned, and 5 more were damaged.

At 1:50 p.m., two people were killed and 48 injured due to the strike in the capital.

As for the Kyiv region, many houses and vehicles were also damaged there. Boryspil, Buchansky, and Fastivsky districts were attacked – two people, a couple, died there.

In the city of Vishnevoye, 11 apartment buildings were destroyed. Places for temporary accommodation of residents of damaged housing are ready.

Attack on Kharkov

The first explosion in the city happened at 07:30. The second – at 07:37, the third – at 07:41, the fourth – at 07:56. The main blow fell in the Shevchenko district of Kharkov.

One of the rockets hit near a residential building, resulting in 52 people being injured, six of them children. A 91-year-old woman who would have turned 92 also died in March. In Kharkov, 41 residential buildings and administrative buildings were damaged.

In addition, an explosion occurred in the main gas pipeline; it is localized. Heating networks were also damaged, leaving six houses without heat.

“There was massive damage. Many houses were destroyed. There were houses that were badly damaged. The administrative building and the main gas pipelines were also damaged, there was a gas explosion in Kharkov. There was a gas leak on arrival in the central part of the city,” said of the city leader Igor Terekhov.

I want to say that this is a real genocide against the Ukrainian nation, the people and all of us,” he added.

What was the goal of the invaders?

The Spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat said that today’s attack can be compared to the Russian strike on December 29, when Kyiv, Kharkov, Dnepr, Odessa, Lvov, Zaporozhye and other cities were attacked .

The current strike, like the previous one, was complicated: first, the invaders launched “martyrs” on reconnaissance, and then cruise missiles from strategic bombers.

According to military experts, this is how the Russians are trying to calculate the positions of the Ukrainian air defense forces. That is, the main purpose of the current strikes is to “hunt” for Ukrainian systems, as well as an attempt to “wear out” them.

“Almost all of these terrorist attacks started with Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drone attacks… Kamikaze drones are used by the Russian invaders not only as a means of destruction, but as an element that exposes and exhausts air defenses, distracting attention by constantly maneuvering in space,” says military expert Alexander Kovalenko.

According to him, the Russian Federation managed to synchronize the launches and route trajectories in such a way that their drones remained in the sky longer. The goal is to reduce as much time as possible between the destruction of the last kamikaze drone and the first missiles entering the Ukrainian airspace.

Separately, the expert noted that the Russian Federation, as expected, used various weapons for air strikes. In addition to subsonic cruise missiles, we also saw ballistics, hypersonic dagger, as well as auxiliary Kh-59 and anti-radar Kh-31P and S-300. The corresponding combination forces Ukraine to use different blocking algorithms.

“Considering attempts to consume them in kamikaze drone raids, with a minimum time interval for reloading, they increase the chances of breakthroughs and strikes,” the expert explained.

Kovalenko made a rather unpleasant conclusion: “It seems that the Russian army has moved away from the” hackneyed” practice of missile strikes (Ukraine noted a unified nomenclature for the use of missiles in the fall of 2022 – then the enemy relied on Kh. -101/555 missiles as a means of delivering a pine strike). Now the invaders began to attack by attacking kamikaze drones and “fix” them with a combination of different sets of missile weapons, so that the enemy will follow this system in the future.”

“It is clear that Russia is preparing for the New Year’s missile attacks in advance, and it was several months in advance… All this was not developed and calculated “on our knees” in one day, ” concluded Kovalenko.

So, as Kovalenko noted, the main issue now is the “battle for the sky” – how many air defense missiles Ukraine still has and whether the Western partners will be able to quickly cover the needs of Ukrainian Armed Forces.

At the same time, Yuriy Ignat reassured the Ukrainians and believed that Russia’s current actions serve a purely psychological purpose. The Kremlin is trying to intimidate Ukrainians, targeting certain targets, and aims to show its population the courage of the Russian army, he added.

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