Is Putin showing off? Use of rare Kinzhal missiles to little effect baffles observers.
RIGA, Latvia — Russia fired a half-dozen of its rare Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine on Thursday, as part of a broader barrage that killed six people and that the Russian Defense Ministry described as revenge for an incursion into western Russia last week by a far-right Russian nationalist group fighting on Ukraine’s side in the war.
Hypersonic missiles are highly maneuverable weapons that travel at speeds above Mach 5, or more than five times the speed of sound, making them extremely hard to intercept. The United States and China are also developing hypersonic weapons. After Russia used them in Ukraine for the first time in March last year, President Biden called the missiles “almost unstoppable.”
In 2018, Putin boasted that the Kinzhal had a range of about 1,250 miles and could travel at 10 times the speed of sound. “Nobody else has them yet,” he said. In 2021, he told a military forum that the Kinzhal and other weapons were “unparalleled in terms of tactical and technical specifications. We can safely assume that certain items will remain unmatched for a long time ahead.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How weapons from Western allies are strengthening Ukraine's defenceWithin weeks of Russia's Ukraine invasion, military-support shipments from Ukraine’s allies helped bend the trajectory of a war that already seemed to be going badly for Russia. In early 2023, Western countries pledged heavy armor via ReutersGraphics
Read more »
Putin opposition calls Ukraine war a 'dead end,' urges peace'I want a ceasefire to happen before thousands and thousands of people are killed,' Russian opposition politician Grigory Yavlinsky told Newsweek.
Read more »
Ukraine war live updates: Biden hosts top EU official as Ukraine reels from hypersonic missile attacksUkrainian emergency services are rushing to repair critical energy infrastructure in the areas hit by the latest wave of Russian missiles and drones.
Read more »
Oscars: The Hidden Craft of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’'On war films you usually want bigger, louder, more and more, but here the goal was the opposite: to be invisible to the audience.'
Read more »
More dry than wet weekend ahead for Western WashingtonLimited showers will continue in Western Washington Friday afternoon as a low pressure system off the Oregon Coast pushes inland. FOX13
Read more »
First Republic, Western Alliance seek to calm contagion worries from SVB meltdownU.S. lenders First Republic Bank and Western Alliance said on Friday their liquidity and deposits remained strong, aiming to calm investors worried of a spill-over of risks from troubled startup focused-bank SVB Financial Group .
Read more »