Ukrainian Air Force: Russia Launches Four Zircon Hypersonic Missiles at Ukraine

During a large-scale combined attack on February 3, Russian forces struck Ukraine with four Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles launched from temporarily occupied Crimea, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The attack also involved seven Kh-22/Kh-32 supersonic cruise missiles fired by Tu-22M3 strategic bombers from airspace over Russia’s Bryansk region.

The enemy also attacked with ballistic missiles and strike unmanned aerial vehicles. The large-scale attack lasted from 6:00 p.m. on February 2 until the morning of February 3.

In total, the Ukrainian Air Force recorded 521 aerial attack assets, excluding Zircon and Kh-22/Kh-32 missiles:

• 32 Iskander-M ballistic missiles / S-300 missiles launched from Russia’s Bryansk region and temporarily occupied Crimea;
• 28 Kh-101 cruise missiles and Iskander-K cruise missiles launched from the Caspian Sea and Russia’s Kursk region;
• 450 strike UAVs, including Shahed-type drones, Gerbera, Italmas, and other types of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The main directions of the attack were Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, and Odesa regions.

According to preliminary data, Ukrainian air defense forces shot down or suppressed 450 targets – 38 missiles and 412 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types.

These included:

• 4 Zircon/Onyx missiles;
• 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles / S-300 missiles;
• 3 Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles;
• 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles / Iskander-K cruise missiles;
• 412 strike UAVs of various types.

Impacts by 27 Russian missiles and 31 strike UAVs were recorded at 27 locations, while debris from downed UAVs fell at 17 locations.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a morning statement that nine people were injured as a result of the attack. Residential buildings and energy infrastructure were also damaged. In Kyiv, fires broke out in high-rise buildings after drone strikes, and a kindergarten was damaged.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that Russian forces deliberately targeted heat and power generation facilities – specifically, combined heat and power plants and thermal power plants that were operating solely to provide heating to districts in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.

Zircon

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has used Zircon anti-ship missiles several times to strike ground targets inside Ukraine. It should be noted that the missile was originally designed to counter the U.S. Navy fleet.