Shadow cruise missiles have been fired for the first time by Ukrainian forces, hitting Russian supply depots located 80 miles behind the frontline.
The missile attacks on Friday and Saturday destroyed a factory in Luhansk City used by the Russian army as a depot to store military equipment.
Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower.
They used it as a supply hub, for soldiers to rest and recover, and to host visiting Russian dignitaries who did not want to get too close to the fighting.
Videos showed a giant fireball and thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky, while photos published by Russian media showed an alleged fragment of missile casing inscribed with the “Storm Shadow” name.
Pro-Russia officials from the Luhansk region have confirmed the strike and said one person was injured.
Storm Shadow missiles, which are fired from the air, carry a large explosive warhead, especially designed to destroy hardened and even buried targets.
Some important things will 'blow up'
Analysts said at least one US MALD decoy missile, which does not carry an explosive warhead but uses sophisticated electronics to distract missile-defence systems, had also been fired in the attacks.
“This is going to be a living nightmare for Russian air defence. I suspect that we will see some important things blow up in the near future,” said Oliver Alexander, a defence and security analyst.
The Ministry of Defence only announced on Thursday that it had agreed to give Ukraine an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow missiles, which far out-range the US-supplied Himars rocket artillery that has played a vital role in pushing back Russian forces.
Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 180 miles, compared to only about 40 miles for the ground-launched Himars rockets, which have already forced Russian generals to move their supply lines and headquarters further from the frontline.
Ukraine has promised not to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, but is now able to hit any target in any part of its territory, including the whole of Crimea.
Rybar, a Russian military blog, told its one million Telegram subscribers that Russian officials underestimated the potential impact of the Storm Shadow missiles.
“The situation is similar to last summer,” it said.
“They hastened to reassure everybody, and to tell them that there was no great danger from these cruise missiles and that everybody is ready for them, but two days of strikes on Luhansk shows this is not true.”
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if UK & USA looked the other way if Ukraine did use their weapons to hit targets in Russia
Russian news outlet Kommersant has reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters were shot down close to the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Bryansk region in what would be a stunning military operation for Kyiv if confirmed.
Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website on Saturday that a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter, and two Mi-8 helicopters that had made up a military raiding party were “shot down almost simultaneously” in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.
“According to preliminary data … the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up — among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down,” the media outlet reported.
Kommersant provided no evidence for its report that the four aircraft had been downed by Ukrainian forces, but the same assertion was also made by several heavily followed prowar military bloggers.
Russia’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no official response from Ukraine, which usually declines to comment on reports of attacks within Russian territory, though pro-Ukrainian social media was awash with speculation that the downing of the four aircraft was not accidental.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote in a tweet that the Russian aircraft had intended to launch a “missile-bomb attack” on Ukraine’s Chernihiv region but were “destroyed by ‘unidentified persons’”, which he described as “instant karma”.
“’Killers on wings’ were destroyed BEFORE the next crime would be committed,” he wrote.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported on Saturday that a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.
TASS also reported an emergency services official saying an engine fire in a Russian helicopter had caused it to crash near the city of Klintsy in Bryansk, about 40 km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The report made no mention of the Su-35 or of a second Russian helicopter crashing or being shot down.
A video posted on the Russian prowar Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, which has about half a million followers, showed a helicopter high in the sky suffering an explosion, being thrown off course, and then plunging towards the ground in flames and later a huge plume of thick black smoke emerging from the apparent crash site.
Comments accompanying the video, which the Reuters news agency could not immediately verify, said it showed a Mi-8 being shot down by a missile. Other images posted by the channel and other military blogging sites showed images of falling aircraft and wreckage in fields.
Voyenniy Osvedomitel said it appeared that “most likely, the enemy staged an ambush with air defences previously transferred to a border zone close enough to hit our group”.
It said the downed helicopters appeared to be Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare craft able to jam enemy radio and target signals.
The Kommersant news site said all four crews had been killed.
Ukraine’s The Kyiv Independent reported that Russian authorities are now searching for “saboteurs” in connection with the destruction of the military aircraft.
The Institute for the Study of War said that geolocated footage from the crash sites placed the incident some 50km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
“Russian [military bloggers] speculated that all four aircraft crashed as the result of a coordinated Ukrainian strike using air defence systems pulled to the border area of Chernihiv Oblast,” the Washington, DC-based think tank reported.
“Several Russian milbloggers seized on the incident to criticize aspects of how the Russian aerospace forces conduct air operations and to accuse the leadership responsible for these aircraft of gross negligence and incompetence,” the ISW reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine reported numerous Russian drone attacks and several explosions in the western Ukrainian region of Khmelnytsky. Critical infrastructure had been hit and people injured, the mayor of the regional capital of the same name, Oleksandr Symchyshyn, said.
The authorities said 11 people were injured. According to reports, railway facilities were also affected.
According to the Ukrainian military, a total of 18 out of 22 Iranian “kamikaze drones” of the type Shahed-131/136 had been shot down in the overnight attacks, the ISW reported.
Shadow cruise missiles have been fired for the first time by Ukrainian forces, hitting Russian supply depots located 80 miles behind the frontline.
The missile attacks on Friday and Saturday destroyed a factory in Luhansk City used by the Russian army as a depot to store military equipment.
Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower.
They used it as a supply hub, for soldiers to rest and recover, and to host visiting Russian dignitaries who did not want to get too close to the fighting.
Videos showed a giant fireball and thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky, while photos published by Russian media showed an alleged fragment of missile casing inscribed with the “Storm Shadow” name.
Pro-Russia officials from the Luhansk region have confirmed the strike and said one person was injured.
Storm Shadow missiles, which are fired from the air, carry a large explosive warhead, especially designed to destroy hardened and even buried targets.
Some important things will 'blow up'
Analysts said at least one US MALD decoy missile, which does not carry an explosive warhead but uses sophisticated electronics to distract missile-defence systems, had also been fired in the attacks.
“This is going to be a living nightmare for Russian air defence. I suspect that we will see some important things blow up in the near future,” said Oliver Alexander, a defence and security analyst.
The Ministry of Defence only announced on Thursday that it had agreed to give Ukraine an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow missiles, which far out-range the US-supplied Himars rocket artillery that has played a vital role in pushing back Russian forces.
Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 180 miles, compared to only about 40 miles for the ground-launched Himars rockets, which have already forced Russian generals to move their supply lines and headquarters further from the frontline.
Ukraine has promised not to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, but is now able to hit any target in any part of its territory, including the whole of Crimea.
Rybar, a Russian military blog, told its one million Telegram subscribers that Russian officials underestimated the potential impact of the Storm Shadow missiles.
“The situation is similar to last summer,” it said.
“They hastened to reassure everybody, and to tell them that there was no great danger from these cruise missiles and that everybody is ready for them, but two days of strikes on Luhansk shows this is not true.”
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if UK & USA looked the other way if Ukraine did use their weapons to hit targets in Russia
Yeah, and risk Putin pulling the WMD card? Yeah, no. The crazy part is that we're effectively seeing ZDF's World War 3 playing out, and that story ended with a die-hard communist responding with his losses with nukes.
Shadow cruise missiles have been fired for the first time by Ukrainian forces, hitting Russian supply depots located 80 miles behind the frontline.
The missile attacks on Friday and Saturday destroyed a factory in Luhansk City used by the Russian army as a depot to store military equipment.
Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower.
They used it as a supply hub, for soldiers to rest and recover, and to host visiting Russian dignitaries who did not want to get too close to the fighting.
Videos showed a giant fireball and thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky, while photos published by Russian media showed an alleged fragment of missile casing inscribed with the “Storm Shadow” name.
Pro-Russia officials from the Luhansk region have confirmed the strike and said one person was injured.
Storm Shadow missiles, which are fired from the air, carry a large explosive warhead, especially designed to destroy hardened and even buried targets.
Some important things will 'blow up'
Analysts said at least one US MALD decoy missile, which does not carry an explosive warhead but uses sophisticated electronics to distract missile-defence systems, had also been fired in the attacks.
“This is going to be a living nightmare for Russian air defence. I suspect that we will see some important things blow up in the near future,” said Oliver Alexander, a defence and security analyst.
The Ministry of Defence only announced on Thursday that it had agreed to give Ukraine an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow missiles, which far out-range the US-supplied Himars rocket artillery that has played a vital role in pushing back Russian forces.
Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 180 miles, compared to only about 40 miles for the ground-launched Himars rockets, which have already forced Russian generals to move their supply lines and headquarters further from the frontline.
Ukraine has promised not to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, but is now able to hit any target in any part of its territory, including the whole of Crimea.
Rybar, a Russian military blog, told its one million Telegram subscribers that Russian officials underestimated the potential impact of the Storm Shadow missiles.
“The situation is similar to last summer,” it said.
“They hastened to reassure everybody, and to tell them that there was no great danger from these cruise missiles and that everybody is ready for them, but two days of strikes on Luhansk shows this is not true.”
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if UK & USA looked the other way if Ukraine did use their weapons to hit targets in Russia
Yeah, and risk Putin pulling the WMD card? Yeah, no. The crazy part is that we're effectively seeing ZDF's World War 3 playing out, and that story ended with a die-hard communist responding with his losses with nukes.
You mean like he's been threatening to do since day 1? He's been making more bullshit threats than Kim Jong Un.
Just remember both those bullshitters have real nukes.
That's one of the many problems here - we likely won't know they've moved from "bullshit" to "serious" until it's too late.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Shadow cruise missiles have been fired for the first time by Ukrainian forces, hitting Russian supply depots located 80 miles behind the frontline.
The missile attacks on Friday and Saturday destroyed a factory in Luhansk City used by the Russian army as a depot to store military equipment.
Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower.
They used it as a supply hub, for soldiers to rest and recover, and to host visiting Russian dignitaries who did not want to get too close to the fighting.
Videos showed a giant fireball and thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky, while photos published by Russian media showed an alleged fragment of missile casing inscribed with the “Storm Shadow” name.
Pro-Russia officials from the Luhansk region have confirmed the strike and said one person was injured.
Storm Shadow missiles, which are fired from the air, carry a large explosive warhead, especially designed to destroy hardened and even buried targets.
Some important things will 'blow up'
Analysts said at least one US MALD decoy missile, which does not carry an explosive warhead but uses sophisticated electronics to distract missile-defence systems, had also been fired in the attacks.
“This is going to be a living nightmare for Russian air defence. I suspect that we will see some important things blow up in the near future,” said Oliver Alexander, a defence and security analyst.
The Ministry of Defence only announced on Thursday that it had agreed to give Ukraine an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow missiles, which far out-range the US-supplied Himars rocket artillery that has played a vital role in pushing back Russian forces.
Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 180 miles, compared to only about 40 miles for the ground-launched Himars rockets, which have already forced Russian generals to move their supply lines and headquarters further from the frontline.
Ukraine has promised not to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, but is now able to hit any target in any part of its territory, including the whole of Crimea.
Rybar, a Russian military blog, told its one million Telegram subscribers that Russian officials underestimated the potential impact of the Storm Shadow missiles.
“The situation is similar to last summer,” it said.
“They hastened to reassure everybody, and to tell them that there was no great danger from these cruise missiles and that everybody is ready for them, but two days of strikes on Luhansk shows this is not true.”
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if UK & USA looked the other way if Ukraine did use their weapons to hit targets in Russia
Yeah, and risk Putin pulling the WMD card? Yeah, no. The crazy part is that we're effectively seeing ZDF's World War 3 playing out, and that story ended with a die-hard communist responding with his losses with nukes.
Poot-poots threats carry as much weight as China's final warnings.
Never underestimate the ingenuity and cruelty of the Irish.
Broomstick wrote: ↑2023-05-14 10:09am
Just remember both those bullshitters have real nukes.
That's one of the many problems here - we likely won't know they've moved from "bullshit" to "serious" until it's too late.
I'd be more worried about NK as they have a cult around their leader, I'm not sure Putin could get his guys to launch unless Russia was literally faced with destruction.
Yeah, and risk Putin pulling the WMD card? Yeah, no. The crazy part is that we're effectively seeing ZDF's World War 3 playing out, and that story ended with a die-hard communist responding with his losses with nukes.
You mean like he's been threatening to do since day 1? He's been making more bullshit threats than Kim Jong Un.
Please remember that...
Broomstick wrote: ↑2023-05-14 10:09am
Just remember both those bullshitters have real nukes.
That's one of the many problems here - we likely won't know they've moved from "bullshit" to "serious" until it's too late.
... and I've been ninja'd.
But still, we're in a situation where it could -in my words- "Wormhole Escalate" -aka escalate so fast that the chain of command can't reliably stop it from constantly escalating.
Broomstick wrote: ↑2023-05-14 10:09am
Just remember both those bullshitters have real nukes.
That's one of the many problems here - we likely won't know they've moved from "bullshit" to "serious" until it's too late.
I'd be more worried about NK as they have a cult around their leader, I'm not sure Putin could get his guys to launch unless Russia was literally faced with destruction.
Given that Russia has systems that can go 'if I'm not receiving command codes otherwise, I'm making sure that the rest of the world goes down with Russia'...
GrosseAdmiralFox wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:42pmGiven that Russia has systems that can go 'if I'm not receiving command codes otherwise, I'm making sure that the rest of the world goes down with Russia'...
... yeah, have fun.
What exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
Jub wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:47pmWhat exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
That's totally how it's going down in my head canon. Just Vlad P, shirtless of course, with nothing but a shovel and a bear. The bear doesn't do much to annihilate civilization after he dismounts from its back, but it's been specially-trained in a top secret Siberian facility to keep the vodka chilled and Instagram the whole thing.
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan? Y'know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! Y'know, I just do things..." --The Joker
Jub wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:47pmWhat exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
That's totally how it's going down in my head canon. Just Vlad P, shirtless of course, with nothing but a shovel and a bear. The bear doesn't do much to annihilate civilization after he dismounts from its back, but it's been specially-trained in a top secret Siberian facility to keep the vodka chilled and Instagram the whole thing.
GrosseAdmiralFox wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:42pmGiven that Russia has systems that can go 'if I'm not receiving command codes otherwise, I'm making sure that the rest of the world goes down with Russia'...
... yeah, have fun.
What exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
In all probability, no. DEADHAND only goes into 'nuke the world' mode if it detects a nuke detonating in Moscow and doesn't receive word from the other top leaders of Russia/USSR that they're still alive. After that, a prompt comes up, and the moment that the 'confirmed'/'yes' command is sent, the system will launch a specialized rocket to send override codes to the various launch sites that bypass the 'buddy' system and force an immediate launch.
... given how much like Captain Ahab Putin is acting, I wouldn't be surprised that he'll have him and the rest of the top leadership die in nuclear fire to spite everyone else if he thinks he's going down no matter what.
GrosseAdmiralFox wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:42pmGiven that Russia has systems that can go 'if I'm not receiving command codes otherwise, I'm making sure that the rest of the world goes down with Russia'...
... yeah, have fun.
What exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
In all probability, no. DEADHAND only goes into 'nuke the world' mode if it detects a nuke detonating in Moscow and doesn't receive word from the other top leaders of Russia/USSR that they're still alive. After that, a prompt comes up, and the moment that the 'confirmed'/'yes' command is sent, the system will launch a specialized rocket to send override codes to the various launch sites that bypass the 'buddy' system and force an immediate launch.
... given how much like Captain Ahab Putin is acting, I wouldn't be surprised that he'll have him and the rest of the top leadership die in nuclear fire to spite everyone else if he thinks he's going down no matter what.
You haven't been right about any of your doom and gloom predictions thus far, so why should any of us take your constant chicken little act seriously?
Jub wrote: ↑2023-05-14 09:47pm
What exactly would Ukraine do that would cut those lines of communication and force a launch? Or are you suggesting that Putin would go out with a shovel and sever the communication lines himself?
In all probability, no. DEADHAND only goes into 'nuke the world' mode if it detects a nuke detonating in Moscow and doesn't receive word from the other top leaders of Russia/USSR that they're still alive. After that, a prompt comes up, and the moment that the 'confirmed'/'yes' command is sent, the system will launch a specialized rocket to send override codes to the various launch sites that bypass the 'buddy' system and force an immediate launch.
... given how much like Captain Ahab Putin is acting, I wouldn't be surprised that he'll have him and the rest of the top leadership die in nuclear fire to spite everyone else if he thinks he's going down no matter what.
You haven't been right about any of your doom and gloom predictions thus far, so why should any of us take your constant chicken little act seriously?
Let me put it this way, at the start of the war, I thought that we would be seeing the Ukrainian version of the Fall of Poland. I was, oddly enough, one of those that were in the optimistic end. A lot of people were convinced that Ukraine would fall.
Then Russia started showing itself to be a complete and utter clown car, and as Laserpig keeps saying, keeps screwing up so badly that FICTION is more consistent and sane.
Given that Russia has consistently shown that it is very willing to spite Ukraine for the audacity of winning combined with the fact that we've got people in charge that wants to go back to the days of the USSR aka Communist Russian Empire who see recreating the old empire as the equivalent of the white whale? You can see where that ugly picture is going.
Oh, and we've already had this scenario plotted out in fiction... just with the 'Gorbachev Must Die' plotline (which ended with a Vladimir deciding that, given that the USSR was basically imploding, terrorize everyone by 'escalating to deescalate' via nuclear ordinance in accordance to Soviet/Russian strategic weapons theory... which led to thermonuclear war breaking out).
Lets not have this song and dance again, if the World War 3 is unavoidable then there's no point in scare mongering about. Nor is there is any point in starting a fight over it. So for all that is holy drop it!
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
Ralin wrote: ↑2023-05-16 06:31am
Or if we're going to can we base it on something other than movies or sci-fi novels or wherever the hell it is GAF is getting this from?
Honestly if the world (or at least the part of it I live in) is gonna end in nuclear fire and there's nothing I can do about it I prefer not to know. especially if the only you post about is a "I told you so" which is what GAF seems to be doing, I'm not saying his correct but rather that he's claiming "WW3 is unavoidable and we're all gonna die because of ..." or at least that's the impression I got from his posts.
I may be an idiot, but I'm a tolerated idiot
"I think you completely missed the point of sigs. They're supposed to be completely homegrown in the fertile hydroponics lab of your mind, dried in your closet, rolled, and smoked...
Oh wait, that's marijuana..."Einhander Sn0m4n
Lord Revan wrote: ↑2023-05-16 08:49am
Honestly if the world (or at least the part of it I live in) is gonna end in nuclear fire and there's nothing I can do about it I prefer not to know.
Not this guy. Depending on where exactly I am at the time, I need advance notice to either get on the roof with a lawnchair, my best bong, and a handle of bourbon, or to prep my Nux costume.
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan? Y'know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! Y'know, I just do things..." --The Joker
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has been targeted by further Russian air attacks, described by one official as "exceptional in density".
Ukraine said all 18 missiles were shot down and footage showed air defences destroying targets over the city.
But Russia said its attack - which used drones and missiles - had hit all its targets.
Moscow has stepped up its air campaign in recent weeks, ahead of an expected Ukrainian offensive.
The air raid alert sounded at around 02:30 local time (23:30 GMT Monday) and was lifted two hours later in the eighth attack to hit the capital this month.
An unusually high number of loud explosions was heard in the city centre, as authorities told residents in online messages that air defence had been activated.
The head of Ukraine's armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhny, said Russia attacked Kyiv from the north, south and east and that 18 air, sea and land-based missiles had been used.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, described the barrage as being the "maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time".
"According to preliminary information, the vast majority of enemy targets in the airspace of Kyiv were detected and destroyed," he added.
Gen Zaluzhny said that included nine Kalibr cruise missiles, which were launched from ships in the Black Sea, and three land-based missiles.
He added that Kyiv also destroyed six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which travel on a ballistic trajectory and are capable of reaching speeds of more than 11,000kmh (7,000mph).
Russia has claimed in the past that these could not be taken out by any of the world's air defence systems.
Ukraine said it had shot down a Kinzhal for the first time last week during an earlier attack on Kyiv.
If these claims are true, Moscow will be feeling frustrated that the finest weapons from its missile fleet is now able to be intercepted. This is in large part due to the arrival of modern Western defence systems, including Patriots.
Russia claimed that it destroyed a Patriot system during Tuesday's attack on Kyiv. Ukraine declined to comment. The BBC cannot independently verify the claims made by either country.
UNCOMFIRMED BY BBC if any targets actually hit.
ALSO CONFIRUMED by BBC if Patriot System Destroyed.
Where would we find more info?
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
For obvious reasons Ukraine won't give the Russians any intel that things got hit but the flip side is it's hard to cover up hits to anything important because cell phones and the internet. The flip side is Russia is obviously lying about all targets being hit given we have nice videos of at least some missiles being shot down plus.... not everything they fired is super accurate.
So we can discount Russian's "every missile hit it's target" nonsense out of hand we know that to be bullshit.
But where can we put Ukraine's every missile shot down claim? We can't be for sure about that but given what reporting we do have... we can't say much more.
Best guess based on what's reported?
Russia either hit two or three missiles out of the eighteen the fired or they really did get all eighteen shot down. I don't think Ukraine would report no hits if 3-18 missiles had hit.
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Mr Bean wrote: ↑2023-05-16 01:15pm
For obvious reasons Ukraine won't give the Russians any intel that things got hit but the flip side is it's hard to cover up hits to anything important because cell phones and the internet. The flip side is Russia is obviously lying about all targets being hit given we have nice videos of at least some missiles being shot down plus.... not everything they fired is super accurate.
So we can discount Russian's "every missile hit it's target" nonsense out of hand we know that to be bullshit.
But where can we put Ukraine's every missile shot down claim? We can't be for sure about that but given what reporting we do have... we can't say much more.
Best guess based on what's reported?
Russia either hit two or three missiles out of the eighteen the fired or they really did get all eighteen shot down. I don't think Ukraine would report no hits if 3-18 missiles had hit.
I am also less likely to believe the Russian version, which is why I would really like more info on the Patriot system they're claiming they destroyed.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Details: A US official told CNN that a Patriot system was likely damaged, with the extent of the damage still being assessed. This assessment will determine whether the system can be repaired on the spot, or needs to be pulled back.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said that "a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system." Ukraine did not comment on the Russian statement, but said that its forces intercepted all six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that Russia had launched.
I'm sure Ukraine loves how the US is blabbing all these details.
TL;DR The Patriot System was Hit, but not destroyed, and maybe not even Mission-killed if the damage was mild enough.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
LadyTevar wrote: ↑2023-05-16 08:42pm
I'm sure Ukraine loves how the US is blabbing all these details.
Not exactly a secret if your missile-shooting down thing is still capable of shooting down missiles in an a war zone. If the Russians didn't know it wouldn't take them long to check just by shooting more missiles, if nothing else.
Was reading a post somewhere else saying that the Patriot system's ability to shoot down that type of missiles hinges a lot on being able to figure out where it's heading and hence where it will be and being able to fire fast enough to catch it at whatever angle. Meaning that being the target of the hypersonic missiles is ironically kind of the ideal situation from an efficiency standpoint.
