“There haven’t been missiles like the X-22 in the arches for quite a long time. The peculiarity of this attack is the use of these missiles,” he said.
Ignat said that the X-22 are missiles that were actually used against aircraft carrier groups. They can carry various charges, including special ones.
“And their peculiarity is that the combat weight of this missile is 950 kg. Be it the Kh-22 missile or the Kh-32 missile. Well, so, the enemy used 12 such missiles on Kyiv today from strategic aircraft,” a representative of the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces emphasized. “This is an unprecedented case in general. Because you remember, perhaps, another incident in the Dnieper, when an entire entrance was demolished by this missile. It was such a serious story then, many died, among there were many of them children. And since then the enemy began to use these missiles less on the territory of Ukraine, the mainland.”
Ignat added that the invaders used X-22 missiles mainly to attack oil platforms, the area of Zmeiny Island, and also the south of Ukraine.
“In total, 412 X-22 or X-32 missiles were used by the enemy against the territory of our state. And only three of them have been shot down so far. Today we have another plus nine. That is, at the moment, 12 missiles out of those 400 have been destroyed,” said the head of the communications department of the Armed Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ignat explained that the Kh-22, although a cruise missile, attacks the target along a ballistic trajectory, like the Kinzhal or Iskander-M.
“The speed is high, about 4,000 km/h on the route, and it attacks at such speed, falling on its target. Therefore, Patriot systems can only intercept targets such as X-22, X-32, which was done today,” noted a representative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
At the same time, two of these missiles hit critical infrastructure facilities, Ignat added.
“The use of such missiles, which are considered, by the way, to be quite inaccurate – a very high error is allowed there – and the use of such missiles against cities with a population of one million in urban areas in densely populated areas is simply… there are no words at all to describe what the enemy continues to do against our people. These are crimes against humanity,” said the head of the communications department of the Armed Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Context
The aggressor country of the Russian Federation on the night of January 24 released in Ukraine 396 missiles and drones, including two 3M22 Zircon anti-ship missiles, six Iskander-M/S-300 ballistic missiles, 12 Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles and one Kh-59/69 guided missile, informed the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Air defense forces shot down 15 missiles (including nine Kh-22/Kh-32) and 357 UAVs. Two missiles and 18 drones were hit at 17 locations. Drone debris fell in another 12 locations.
As a result of the night attack by the Russian Federation, destruction was recorded in five districts of Kyiv, the mayor's office reported. On the left bank of the capital there were interruptions in heating and water supply. In the morning, the “green” line of the Kyiv metro operated in limited mode due to shelling. Damage received by the Roshen factory, where the woman died.
The occupiers tried to cut off Kyiv energetically, and commented on the Russian attack at the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the Russian attack “We need to respond with force.” The head of state is counting on the reaction and help of his partners.
