How Kyiv is trying to withstand Russian missiles

There were heavy Russian air raids on Kyiv again. However, the Ukraine has apparently been increasingly successful in intercepting Moscow’s hypersonic missiles. German air defense systems are believed to be helping in this effort.

It was another restless night in Kyiv, with several loud explosions heard. Witnesses reported that pressure waves even shook windows and buildings in the center of the city. Russia launched 18 rockets of various types from the north, south, and east. This is already the eighth massive rocket attack since the beginning of May.

Nico Lange of the Munich Security Conference sees a changed strategy of the Russian armed forces in this. On the one hand, it is about tying up the Ukrainian air defense so that it always has to deal with protecting civilians in the cities, says Lange. “Because the resources for air defense in Ukraine are still very limited, Ukraine does not have these systems available, for example, to protect troops on the front line.”

“IRIS-T” and “Gepard” systems apparently provide protection for Kyiv. This could become a disadvantage for the Ukrainian troops in the context of the counteroffensive, according to Lange. At the same time, Russia is trying to identify the positions of the Ukrainian air defense with the increased attacks. The capital Kyiv is mainly protected by German systems, such as “IRIS-T” or “Gepard” anti-aircraft tanks. In April, it became known that Germany had also provided Ukraine with a “Patriot” system.

According to Ukrainian reports, this system shot down six Russian “Kinshchal” missiles last night. The hypersonic missiles were considered difficult to intercept for a long time. But Lange believes that the fear of this type of Russian missile is exaggerated. There are other hypersonic systems that are much more difficult to intercept than “Kinshchal” missiles.

“But Russia has apparently not been able to produce them in sufficient quantities or have them ready for deployment. The fact that ‘Kinshchal’ has now been intercepted multiple times is more likely an indication that the ‘Patriot’ systems in Kyiv or near Kyiv are in position. And with ‘Patriots,’ it is possible to combat ‘Kinshchal’ missiles,” Lange said.

The “Patriot” air defense system actually comes from the United States. According to Russian reports, one of the systems was destroyed in the last attack. Ukraine did not comment on these reports. Experts expect Russia to continue to launch massive air attacks.

The exact number of “Kinshchal” missiles that Russia has is not known, according to Rafael Loss of the European Council on Foreign Relations in the ARD podcast “Armed Forces and Strategies.” But it is assumed that only a few have been fired at Ukraine so far because they are very complex and very expensive systems that are also difficult to reproduce for Russia. “In that sense, every intercepted missile has a military effect in that fewer missiles are available and, of course, it demonstrates that modern western missile defense systems can also handle modern Russian missiles.”

Air defense systems and corresponding ammunition are a central demand of Ukraine to its western partners. Such weapons deliveries protect lives, it is said. The fact is that at present, Ukraine has a good hit rate. But if a missile or even just a part of it crashes into residential areas, dozens of civilians are often killed. Most recently in Uman, where more than 20 people were killed in their beds in a high-rise building.