Russia Used Kh-22/32 Missiles to Strike Ukraine for the First Time Since July

Russian forces used Kh-22/32 supersonic cruise missiles to strike Ukrainian territory for the first time since July.

This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force Command.

The invaders launched the missiles on the night of October 17 from aircraft flying over the temporarily occupied Crimea.

In addition, the Russians launched Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from the Voronezh and Rostov regions of the Russian Federation.

They also launched four more Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles from Novorossiysk.

Ukraine was also attacked by 332 Shahed-type strike UAVs (31 of which were jet-powered), S-8000 Banderol, Gerbera, and Parody-type decoy drones from various directions.

The last time prior to this attack that the Air Force reported on Russia’s use of Kh-22/32 missiles from the Black Sea was on July 16.

Additionally, at 3:56 p.m. on July 19, there were reports of Kh-22 missile launches toward the Odesa region. However, the report the following morning made no mention of the use of this weaponry.

In total, from 6:00 p.m. on October 16 until the morning of October 17, Ukrainian air defense shot down or neutralized 293 targets: 4 Kalibr cruise missiles and 289 Russian UAVs.

Kh-32 missile

The Kh-32 missile was developed by Raduga State Machine Building Design Bureau as a major upgrade to the Kh-22, which had been in service since the 1960s. The new missile entered service in 2018. Like their predecessors, they are launched from Tu-22M3 bombers.

Work on the new version began in the late 1980s, when it became clear that the old missile had low resistance to electronic countermeasures.

The missile has a range of up to 1,000 km and a speed of 3.5–4.6 Mach. The missile is capable of diving toward the target at a steep angle, combining the characteristics of a cruise missile and a ballistic weapon, which makes it difficult for air defense systems to intercept. The warhead is a lightweight 9A22 (M, MK) weighing up to 700 kg.