Ukrainian intelligence officers are actively searching for Bastion missile systems with Zircon missiles in occupied Crimea.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said that local residents are involved in this process, and they can submit information about the detected missile systems to the eVorog chatbot.

According to Fedorov, Russians launch Zircon missiles, which reach Ukrainian cities in minutes, from the Bastion missile systems, and they have already attacked the Kyiv region at least twice.

“According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russians are trying to penetrate the air defense with Zircon missiles. Zircon missiles are launched using Bastion systems from different parts of Crimea,” Mykhailo Fedorov said.

Fedorov asked Crimean residents to provide any information about the systems: missile launch sites, storage locations, missile storage sites, refueling stations, and information about operators.

“If you live in occupied Crimea and have such information, as well as photos or videos, submit them in the eVorog chatbot. And be sure to take care of your own safety: afterward, delete your chatbot messages, photos, and videos from the gallery, as well as from the ‘Deleted’ folder. If you have family or friends in the occupied territories, share this message with them. And let them delete it from the correspondence as well,” Mykhailo Fedorov emphasized.

In February and March, during the Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, the Russians used the newest Zircon hypersonic missiles.

The 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile was developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya for use from the 3S14 universal vertical launcher.

However, the modernization of the Bastion missile system also gave it the ability to launch Zircon missiles.

Initially, the Bastion system was designed to engage surface ships of various classes and types of amphibious assault forces, convoys, and ship and aircraft carrier strike groups, as well as single ships and ground radio-contrast targets in conditions of intense fire and electronic warfare.

The system is also one of the carriers of the Oniks missile. Since the outbreak of the war against Ukraine, Russia has been using this anti-ship system to fire at ground targets in Ukraine.

The Bastion missile system is quite mobile: after the march, the deployment time from the field to the combat state is 5 minutes. The reverse process takes about the same amount of time. In other words, the system arrives at the point determined by the combat mission, quickly fires, and leaves. It is extremely difficult to hit such a target.