Russia has launched its latest massive attack on Ukraine since early May, a sign that Moscow is spooked by Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive and military aid recently announced by Kyiv’s allies. In this context, Vladimir Putin seems to have a new priority.

Ukraine shot down 29 out of 30 missiles fired by Russia during nighttime airstrikes, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.

“The series of unprecedented power, intensity and variety of airstrikes on Kyiv continues. The ninth consecutive air strike on the capital since the beginning of May,” said the head of the Kyiv civil military administration, Serhii Popko, who reported that Russian strategic bombers launched cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea.

One person died as a result of a Russian missile hitting an industrial facility in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

The remains of Russian, albeit not hypersonic, missiles that ended up in cities in the Kyiv region indicate that Ukrainian air defense is working better than when the allies had not yet provided defensive batteries, Sky News notes.

The Kremlin accuses the manufacturers of the Kinzhal missile of treason

Russia says its Kinjal hypersonic missiles, also known as Killjoys, a NATO term, are “invincible,” but Ukraine says it shot down six of them in one night. Less.

The success came after a series of military donations from the West, such as the US Patriot missile defense system.

Soon after, the Kremlin announced that it had arrested three Russian scientists who had worked on developing hypersonic missiles and that they were facing “very serious” criminal charges, referring to a treason investigation that has raised alarm among Russian researchers, Reuters reported. .

Researchers are accused of treason because of information presented at international conferences.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years praised the hypersonic missiles in the Russian Federation’s arsenal, claiming that it is the world leader in such weapons.

Putin is desperate to win with the help of Kinjal missiles.

The setbacks on the front, nearly 11 months after Putin sought victory on the battlefield by capturing the city of Bakhmut, make the Kremlin leader appear desperate and display the best weapons to achieve his goal, but in doing so also show Moscow its vulnerabilities, according to a military analyst and retired vice-marshal of the British Air Force Sean Bell, Sky News notes.

A military analyst believes that Russia now has a big problem because of Ukraine’s ability to shoot down cruise missiles and the Russian military’s “liquefied” missile stockpile.

“In desperation, Russia is forced to deploy its latest-generation missiles,” Sean Bell said.

Among them is the Kinjal hypersonic missile, which can fly at five times the speed of sound.

“But the danger of introducing advanced technology in this field is that you are showing an ace up your sleeve. You discover your abilities as well as your vulnerabilities and limitations. “Western powers can now explore this capability and use the technology to rapidly develop countermeasures,” Bell said.

“It took years and billions of dollars to develop the Kinjal technology in Russia. They were a big deterrent then, until the moment they were used,” the military analyst added.

Putin’s new priority is the neutralization of Ukrainian air defense

Bell noted that the US and the West have always been careful not to fully show what they are capable of in any conflict, so as not to expose an “ace up their sleeve.”

The military analyst also mentioned the long-range Storm Shadow missiles, a 25-year-old technology that needs to be modernized.

“If this is lost to the Russians, no great secrets are lost. The same applies to the American Patriot air defense system, which was first used in 1984. So it is unlikely that such advanced technology will be deployed in Ukraine, as they will want to keep it secret to keep out potential enemies like Russia. and China to analyze it,” Bell concluded.

And British intelligence noted that Russia’s new priority is to neutralize Ukraine’s “improved” air defense systems after they successfully shot down hypersonic missiles.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense did not say how many Russian Kinkal missiles it believed had been destroyed, saying only that Russia had lost “several” Killjoy missiles trying to target Ukrainian defense systems.

It is also unclear how successful the efforts were by Russia, which claimed to have destroyed the Patriot system. Kyiv denied the claim, and US officials said it suffered “minor damage”.

Experts say the Patriot systems are an easy target because of the signals they emit, but their best chance to shoot down a Kinjal missile is actually when the systems are the target.

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