Russia’s Defense Ministry claims to have ‘completely destroyed’ 5 Patriot missile launchers in Kyiv

7:39 pm, May 17, 2023

Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced that, during its May 16 nighttime strike on Kyiv, a Russian Kinzhal missile destroyed a radar station and five Patriot missile launchers supplied to Ukraine by the United States.

The ministry claims its report is based on “trustworthy confirmed information.”

Patriot vs. Kinzhal

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The Ukrainian command insists that all of the Russian missiles launched during the May 16 nighttime strike, including six Kinzhal missiles, were successfully shot down by the Kyiv air defense systems. This contradicts Russia’s repeated assertions that Kinzhal is completely impervious to being intercepted.

The Security Service of Ukraine is currently investigating six Kyiv residents for having possibly compromised the locations of air-defense installations around the city by sharing webcam footage of missile strikes online.