“Ukraine shoots down Russian hypersonic missile for the first time, requests help to strengthen air defense”

2023-05-06 12:35:17

(Kyiv) Ukraine said on Saturday that it had shot down a Russian hypersonic missile of the Kinjal type for the first time during strikes carried out by Moscow overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

Posted at 8:35 a.m.

Updated at 8:35 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called it, when he unveiled the Kinjal missile in 2018, an “ideal weapon”, because it was very difficult for opposing defenses to intercept.

“I congratulate the Ukrainian people for this historic event,” General Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram messaging. “Yes, we shot down the Kinjal missile, which has no equivalent,” he rejoiced.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the missile was shot down by a Patriot air defense system over Kyiv around 2:30 a.m. local time Thursday (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday).

Ukraine has asked its Western allies to help it strengthen its air defense system. Throughout the winter, Moscow had indeed bombarded its energy infrastructure.

And in mid-April, Kyiv received its first Patriots, considered one of the most advanced air defense systems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said the Patriots would “significantly” strengthen Ukraine’s defenses once morest Russian strikes.

Russian nationalist writer Prilepin injured in ‘explosion’

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE RUSSIAN INQUIRY COMMITTEE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

A photo from the scene, released by the Investigation Committee, shows a white vehicle with its front end shredded and overturned on its roof, past a crater on a dirt road in a wooded area.

Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin, a staunch supporter of the Kremlin attack in Ukraine, was injured in the ‘explosion’ of his car in Russia on Saturday, an attack which Moscow accuses Ukraine and the West of being originally.

Russian authorities announced on Saturday that they had opened an investigation for “terrorist act” and arrested a suspect.

In a press release, the Investigation Committee announced the opening of this investigation, stating that the driver of the writer had been killed in the attack. For its part, the Interior Ministry indicated that a man “who might be linked to the explosion” had been arrested in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, where the facts took place.

The attack, which killed another person, authorities said, comes amid a wave of attacks affecting the country.

In recent weeks, drone strikes, sabotage and suspected attacks have multiplied on Russian territory. The Kremlin accuses Kyiv as a major offensive by the Ukrainian armed forces looms and the big celebrations in Russia of May 9, the day of victory over Hitler.

“One person was killed by the explosion, and the writer Zakhar Prilepin, who was in the car, was injured,” the Interior Ministry’s press service said.

Anonymous medical and security sources, quoted by Russian news agencies, claim that the writer was injured in the legs.

« Zakhar [Prilépine] has minor fractures, there is no danger to his life, ”assured on Telegram the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region (center-west), where the incident took place and where the man is from. ‘writer.

From the first reports of the incident, the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, accused Ukraine, the United States, Great Britain and NATO of being behind this “terrorist” act. “Direct responsibility of the United States and Great Britain.” We pray for Zakhar,” she wrote on Telegram.

According to the Investigation Committee, the writer was in his car “with his family” when the explosion occurred.

A photo from the scene, released by the Investigation Committee, shows a white vehicle with its front end shredded and overturned on its roof, past a crater on a dirt road in a wooded area.

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