‘Wishful talking’: Russian military official disputes Pentagon statement about Kinzhal missile being intercepted by Patriot system

Russia’s state media including TASS, RIA Novosti, and Interfax are quoting a “high-ranking official” in the Defense Ministry who told the press that the reported recent interception of a Russian Kinzhal missile by a U.S.-made Patriot system is nothing but “wishful talking.”

“Kinzhal’s velocity exceeds the operative limits of the SAM systems supplied by the West to the Kyiv regime, including the Patriot,” he said.

The speaker also pointed out that, at the end of its trajectory, a Kinzhal missile executes a maneuver that “rules out” any possibility of interception. Criticizing the Ukrainian military’s reports on the numbers of disabled Russian missiles, the official chalked them up to the Ukrainian side’s attempts to minimize the apparent waste of ammunition by overstating the effectiveness of its use.

On May 6, the Ukrainian command said that a Russian Kinzhal missile had been intercepted by a U.S.-supplied Patriot air defense system near Kyiv. On May 10, this statement was officially confirmed by the Pentagon.

Because Kinzhal’s interior construction had never been demonstrated, it’s impossible to tell whether the remnants presented by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on May 10 were the actual remnants of a disabled Kinzhal missile. The Russian military’s statements about Kinzhal’s complete imperviousness to being shot down are also impossible to verify at will.