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More than 2 Russian cruise and ballistic missiles have been destroyed by the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia. This was reported in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Thousands of lives have been saved thanks to modern air defense systems provided by partners. However, Ukraine needs even more air defense to protect people, as civilian infrastructure remains the main target of Russian strikes, reports FREEHOME.
For more than two years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the power of air defense systems and the skill of Ukrainian operators have increased significantly. However, the enemy increases the number and power of attacks. Experts believe that 2 downed missiles of various calibers are the result of the titanic work of Ukrainian defenders.
"And as for our qualification: it turned out to be so great that it amazes even the developers themselves. From time to time, our anti-aircraft guns manage to achieve results on Western missile systems. That is, the number of downed enemy targets is greater than laid down in the developer's design documentation," noted political analyst, missile and nuclear weapons expert, former design engineer of the Pivdenne KB Oleksandr Kochetkov.
Russia began to use its latest missiles more often against the Ukrainians, in particular the Dagger, the Onyx and the hypersonic Zircon. During the missile attack on Kyiv on March 25, the Kremlin most likely used the hypersonic Zircon missile. This is not the first time that missiles that Russia positions as "invulnerable" have been shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
"As for Zircon, it will launch from ships or submarines. This is an anti-ship missile, but it is launched over our cities. And in Russia they say that it has nine speeds of sound. From a technical point of view, this is incredible. Most likely, the "Zirkon" has a slightly different engine, but it also has about five speeds of sound in the final part of the trajectory, and therefore it cannot be called a full-fledged hypersonic missile. That is why we can shoot him down too," Kochetkov explained.
But Ukraine's modern air defense systems are, as before, insufficient for reliable cover of critical infrastructure. According to Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the Patriot is what Ukraine desperately needs to defend itself against Russia's incessant missile attacks.
"Give us the damn Patriot. If we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriot, we could protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Politico.
Meanwhile, NATO is considering the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles that fly into the territory of the Alliance countries. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Andrzej Sheyna noted that the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian missile on March 24 was a test of the strength of the defense and vigilance of the Polish armed forces.
"NATO is analyzing various concepts, in particular, that such missiles should be shot down when they are already very close to the NATO border. But it had to happen with the consent of the Ukrainian side and taking into account the international consequences. Then NATO missiles would hit Russian missiles outside the Treaty's territory," RMF24 quotes Shayna as saying.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielus Landsbergis, believes that the North Atlantic Alliance should shoot down Russian missiles that fly into the airspace of NATO member states. In his opinion, if the block allows such situations to be repeated, "it will sound like an invitation" for Russia to repeat similar actions.
