It is impossible to intercept the Kinzhal missile with the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, a high-ranking source in the Russian Defense Ministry told TASS.

“Throwing in that the Kinzhal was allegedly intercepted is an attempt to pass off wishful thinking,” he said.

The source drew attention to the fact that the speed of the “Dagger” exceeds the limiting combat modes of Western air defense systems, which the allies supply to the Ukrainian military, including the Patriot complex.

“In addition, the anti-missile maneuver carried out by Kinzhal in the final flight segment and the almost vertical approach to the target excludes the interception of this weapon by anti-aircraft missile systems,” he stressed.

The interlocutor of the agency believes that this and similar statements by Kyiv about the alleged interception of Russian missiles are made to justify the overexpenditure of ammunition supplied by the West for air defense systems.

“The number of interceptions is two to three times more than we actually launch. And, I’ll pay attention, not those missiles that arrive,” he told TASS.

On May 10, Bild published a video of the wreckage of an allegedly Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile that was shot down on May 4. In the video, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, shows fragments of the alleged “Dagger” to the journalist of the publication Paul Ronzheimer. When asked if it was the first time the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down the Kinzhal, the official answered in the affirmative.

After that, Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov wrote in his Telegram channel that Klitschko showed fragments of a concrete-piercing bomb, which is designed to destroy military equipment, reinforced concrete structures.

“Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko fell victim to deception by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and also passed off a BetAB-500ShP bomb as a “Dagger” in a conversation with German journalists,” the journalist claims.

The ex-head of Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, is also pointed out to Klitschko’s mistake. “This is the same “Dagger” as Klitschko is a ballerina of the Bolshoi, not, of course, the Maly Theater. I don’t want this stupid mayor of a great city, which we will take and take, upset, but this is not “Dagger” at all,

– says the post in his Telegram channel.

Rogozin stressed that he “knows how he [“Dagger”] looks, took part in the establishment of its production in one of our republics.” Addressing the mayor of Kyiv, the former CEO of the state corporation pointed out that the Russian hypersonic missile is “much larger and more powerful.” “To make it clearer, it [Kinzhal] is about 30 times larger, if you have enough imagination,” Rogozin concluded.

On May 9, the Pentagon confirmed that Ukraine had shot down the Kinzhal with the help of the Patriot anti-missile defense system handed over to it. This was stated by the head of the press service of the US Department of Defense Patrick Ryder. For details, he urged to contact the Ukrainian side, writes TASS. What kind of Patriot complex was used for this purpose, he did not specify.

The head of the press service also confirmed that Washington handed over this complex to Kyiv. Earlier it was reported that Ukraine received them from Germany and the Netherlands. In this regard, the Pentagon spokesman did not specify which modification of the Patriot was used against the “Dagger”.

Some time later, CNN removed the word “Dagger” from the news about Ryder’s statement, along with the video of the press secretary. Thus, only the Pentagon’s confirmation that the Patriot missile defense system shot down the missile remained.

On May 4, after media reports about the alleged downing of the Kinzhal, the Air Force of Ukraine stated that they could not confirm this information. But Yuriy Ignat, the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, did not rule out such a possibility either. According to him, experts need more time to understand the circumstances.

“Enemy aviation was also active at night, a MiG-31 aircraft also flew, and there was also a threat of using ballistic weapons. While we cannot confirm that it was used, there are no facts of “arrival,” he said on the air of the telethon.

On May 5, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Army denied the alleged downing of the Kinzhal over Kiev.

“I have already refuted a thousand times, you should have seen it yesterday. There was a possibility of use, but no ballistic missiles were recorded. What some heads of military administrations say there, they have already received for it,” said Yuri Ignat.

The next day, the command of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the Ukrainian military had shot down a hypersonic Kinzhal.

“This happened during the night attack on May 4 in the sky of the Kiev region. The Kh-47 missile was fired by the MiG-31K from the territory of Russia,” said Nikolai Oleshchuk, Commander of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine began to use Western Patriots from April 21st. On April 27, the second division of the air defense system was transferred to Kyiv.

On March 9, the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, admitted that Ukraine cannot shoot down Russian hypersonic missiles, since there are no necessary systems for this. At the same time, he noted that the Patriot is not a “panacea”, since quite a lot of such funds are needed.

On the same day, in response to the terrorist attack in the Bryansk region on March 2, the Russian army launched a “massive retaliatory strike,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

“High-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, hit key elements of the military infrastructure of Ukraine, enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as energy facilities that provide them,” the statement said. department summary. It was emphasized that the goal was achieved.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the speed of the Kinzhal rocket is 10 times the speed of sound (up to 4080 m/s), the flight range is more than 2,000 km. At the same time, this type of weapon can maneuver in all parts of the trajectory, thanks to which it overcomes all air defense and missile defense systems. “Dagger” can be equipped with conventional and nuclear warheads. The mass of the warhead is half a ton.

At the same time, the Patriot system can intercept a missile whose maximum speed does not exceed 2500 m/s.