The Ukrainian Air Force published a video with the Patriot air defense system operator, who shot down the first Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile over Kyiv two years ago — on May 4, 2023.
The Ukrainian Air Force published a video with the Patriot air defense system operator, who shot down the first Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile over Kyiv two years ago — on May 4, 2023.
«Two years ago, on May 4, 2023, soldiers of the 96th anti-aircraft missile unit of the Kyiv Air Command „Center“ destroyed the „Dagger“ hypersonic ballistic missile. We thank foreign partners for their powerful support of the Ukrainian people on the path to our common Victory! We thank the anti-aircraft soldiers for their high level of training, coordination, responsibility, professionalism and love for their land!», — stated in the Defense Forces post.
The operator’s last name is not mentioned, only his first name is Dmytro. He, and the video with his face half-covered. «When the war began, I joined the army. I could not even think that I, a simple programmer, would master the Patriot air defense system and shoot down the first „Dagger“ in the world,» the guy admitted.
Dmytro said that he and his colleagues did not know at the time that it was the Kinzhal that was attacking Kyiv. «At that moment, we saw on the screen that it was ballistics, but at first we thought it was just an Iskander. Only when we found the wreckage did we find out for ourselves that it was a Kinzhal.» Everyone was happy, everyone congratulated each other. Russia said that it was impossible to shoot down the Kinzhal, but it turned out that everything can be shot down and everything is shot down… It was the first time in the world that a hypersonic ballistic missile was shot down,» the military man shares his impressions.
Let us recall that on the night of May 4, the Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile was successfully shot down over Kyiv for the first time.
