The Plans of Mice and Men Gang aft a-gley

"The enemy's mission is to sow panic and create chaos."

"However, in the northern operational zone [including Kyiv], everything is under complete control."

General Serhiy Naev, Commander, Joint Forces of the Ukraine Armed Forces

"It is worth noting that Russia's designation for the Kinzhal as a 'hypersonic' missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds [i.e., above Mach 5] at some point during their flight."

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

 

"A year ago, we were not able to shoot down most of the terrorists' missiles, especially ballistic ones."

"And I am asking one thing now. If we are able to do this, is there anything we can't do?" 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The night sky lights up in Kyiv, Ukraine, early on Tuesday. Air raid sirens blared across nearly all of Ukraine early on Tuesday and were heard over the capital and its region for more than three hours during the Russian missile attack. (Gleb Garanich/The Associated Press)

According to news out of Kyivm Ukrainian forces shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles on Tuesday night, thus thwarting a weapon held by Moscow boasting weapons upsmanship as the next-generation hypersonic missile, all but unstoppable, a weapon so powerful that NATO had reason to shiver in its collective boots. Ukraine appears to have demonstrated that nothing is impossible.

An entire volley of Kinzhal missiles has for the first time been struck by Ukrainian defence; a demonstration of Kyiv's newly deployed Western air defence effectiveness. All of Ukraine heard air-raid sirens blaring for over three hours early Tuesday, warning the population of incoming missiles in Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine -- President Vladimir Putin's bitter project of subjugation of a defiant nation.

A volley of 18 missiles had been flung overnight into Ukraine, the six Kinzhals among them, and as they were struck by Ukraine defences, the sky lit up with their shattering and their detritus rained down on the landscape. Which Western-supplied defensive weapon Ukraine had relied upon to stop the Kinzhals was not released by Kyiv.

On Russia's part a different story, as usual, is heard with the defence ministry claiming to have destroyed a U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air missile-defence system struck by a Kinzhal missile, according to a report by the Zvezda military news outlet. Yet, Valeriy Zaluzbnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces affirmed that all of the missiles had been intercepted successfully. 

 

"It was exceptional in its density -- the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time", stated Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's city military administration.The Russian military was quoted by Zvezda as describing the attacks aimed at Ukrainian fighting units and ammunition storage sites. 

 

Contradicting Russian news sources, Commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhni stated his forces intercepted the six Kinzhals launched from aircraft, along with nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, and three Iskanders fired from land. Which must surely leave the targets wondering how many of these deadly projectiles are left in Russia's stockpile?

With the use of a newly deployed U.S. Patriot air-defence system, earlier in the month Ukraine had announced it shot down a single Kinzhal missile over Kyiv for the first time. While the U.S. military confirmed this, whether the Russian missile was flying at hypersonic speed at the time was not mentioned. According to U.S.-based CSIS, the Kinzhal rapidly accelerates to Mach 4 (4,900 km/h) after launch and speeds of up to Mach 10 -- ten times the speed of sound -- may be reached.

Kinzhal -- which means 'dagger' in Russkij -- is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads up to 2,000 km. The weapons were used by Russia for the first time in Ukraine last year. It costs a whopping $10 million to produce each Kinzhal missile. The question might be how many does Moscow have of these to spare? If they're being shot down and destroyed by Ukrainian defences how many more is Putin willing to lose in his waning conflict with Ukraine?

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken proudly of the Kinzhal as proof of Russia's capacity to produce technically outstanding weapons of a superior type that would outclass anything produced by the West. If Mr. Putin believed that by deploying the hypersonic missiles in his Ukraine conflict which has become a debacle for him and for Russia, that he would prove the exceptionality of Russia's fighting force and weaponry, he appears to have calculated poorly.

It is obvious that in anticipation of Ukraine's intention to launch its spring counteroffensive, the first such operation in six months, Mr. Putin chose to make the move hoping to overwhelm Ukrainian forces with the size, velocity and anticipated success of launching powerful long-rage airstrikes at such high frequency. Matters have not proceeded in this bid for hegemonic conquest the neat and formalized way that Mr. Putin designed them to.

In the past week alone Ukraine has foiled Russian expectations as Ukrainian forces made large gains on the battlefield on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut, the region and the city that Vladimir Putin was determined would mark a great victory for Russia on the eve of its annually-celebrated Victory Day. A sour outcome for a Russian leader who bit off more than he could chew.

Firefighters work at a site damaged by Russian missiles in Kyiv on Tuesday. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv/Reuters)