Russia claims use of 'Kinzhal' hypersonic missile for first time in Ukraine

The Kinzhal or 'Dagger' missile can fly 10 times the speed of sound according to Russia's defence ministry

Firefighters put out a major blaze caused by Russian shelling at a food warehouse in Severodonetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region. AFP

Irina Zubchenko walks her dog Max amid the destruction caused by the shelling of a shopping center in Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian refugee Masha, 6, plays at the border crossing in Budomierz, Poland. Reuters

A charred Russian armoured personnel carrier on the front line in the Kyiv region. Reuters

A volunteer takes position at a checkpoint in a district of Kyiv as Russian forces try to encircle the Ukrainian capital. AFP

Residents of Kyiv retrieve belongings from their homes in a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling by Russian artillery. AFP

Police officers in Moscow detain a woman as she protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. AFP

A resident of the village of Krasylivka after Russian bombardment, part of Moscow's effort to move on Kyiv. AFP

Tetiana Chornovol, a former Ukrainian MP, prepares to take position with an anti-tank missile on the front line in the Kyiv region. Reuters

A rescue worker at a shopping mall in Kyiv after a Russian air strike. Reuters

Ukrainian firefighters rescue a person buried beneath rubble after an explosion at a shopping centre in Kyiv. Reuters

Ukrainian police officers stand near a warehouse that was hit by the debris of a downed rocket in Kyiv. AFP

Graves are dug in a street in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

Pro-Russia militia fighters travel by tank to the outskirts of Mariupol. Reuters

Milana, 6, who is recovering from leg wounds sustained when a Russian rocket hit her house on February 28, killing her mother, watches volunteers dressed as clowns at a children's hospital in Kyiv. Getty

Tetyana and other residents wait in Kyiv, after being relocated from Irpin town. EPA

Rescuers carry a Ukrainian soldier saved after 30 hours trapped in the wreckage of a military school hit by Russian rockets, in Mykolaiv. AFP

A Ukrainian refugee arrives with her dog at the reception centre about three kilometres from the Moldova-Ukraine border. EPA

Volunteers in Kyiv prepare packages with food and other goods for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in cities across the country. EPA

Residents walk between damaged residential buildings in Mariupol. Reuters

Participants illuminate the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna with the lights of their smartphones, during the charity concert We Stand with Ukraine. AFP

Yana Hladiychuk of Ukraine with a "Stop War" message on her face after the women's pole vault, on the second day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Getty

An Ukrainian girl in tears after crossing the border in Siret, northern Romania. AFP

A satellite image shows the aftermath of the Russian air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theatre. EPA/Maxar Technologies

A woman takes cover in a military trench as a Russian jet fighter flies overhead, near the military school hit by Russian rockets the day before, in Mykolaiv. AFP

A man walks amid debris in front of a Kyiv residential apartment complex that was heavily damaged by a Russian attack on March 18. Getty

Residents carry water from a food warehouse, which is under the control of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP

Rescuers work at the site of the National Academy of State Administration building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. AP

A satellite image shows artillery strikes and burning fields in Chernihiv. AP / Maxar Technologies

A resident assesses her damaged flat in Mariupol. Reuters

Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko keeps people away from a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling on March 18. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses crowds at a concert in Moscow to mark the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. AP

Ukrainian policemen secure a residential area in Kyiv. Sergei Supinsky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP

A cloud of smoke rises after an explosion in Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 18. AP

Zinaida Pivtsova, 75, who fled the war in Ukraine, takes shelter in a sports stadium in Przemysl, south-east Poland. AP

A police officer at abandoned residential buildings in Kyiv. AP

Inside a shell-damaged school in Kyiv. AP

A woman cries before starting to clean the site where a bomb damaged residential buildings in Kyiv. AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd

A woman from Ukraine sits in a car with her children as a volunteer takes them to a hostel in Budapest, Hungary. AP

An abandoned flat in Kyiv. AP

A man removes a curtain inside a school in Kyiv. AP

A worker sets up a billboard with the colours of the Ukrainian flag in Novoiavorisk, near Lviv. AP

Olga plays with her daughter Vedeneya in an empty park in Kyiv. AP

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Russia's Defence Ministry said it had used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile for the first time in action in Ukraine on Saturday.

The air-launched missile can travel up to ten times the speed of sound, according to Russian claims. Russia’s defence ministry said it was used to blow up a weapons depot in the west of the country, and released video of what it said was the attack.

Ukraine has yet to comment on the strike and Russia said the target was near Delyatyn, outside the city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The claimed strike, if confirmed, would mark the first use of the nuclear-capable advanced weapons system in the Ukraine war, state news service RIA Novosti said.

Unveiled in 2018, Kinzhal missiles are air-launched, fired from Mig-31k fighter bombers or TU-22M3 bombers.

Hypersonic challenges

Kinzhal missiles, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, can reach speeds of more than 3.2 kilometres per second, President Vladimir Putin said when he announced the system in an annual state-of-the-nation address in 2018.

At that speed, the kinetic energy of the weapon could be enough to destroy a range of targets, even without an explosive warhead.

Russia said Saturday's strike targeted underground weapons storage, suggesting the need for a powerful "bunker busting" weapon.

In 2003, the US Air Force proposed using kinetic energy bunker busting weapons, rods of tungsten – an extremely strong rare metal, that would be fired from satellites and hit targets at Mach 8.8, destroying them with the sheer force of impact.

The project was abandoned due to prohibitive costs. The US has since launched a number of hypersonic missile programs, including an ongoing attempt to develop a Mach 20 weapon, the Air- Launched Rapid Response Weapon, the AGM-183A.

The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) tested a Mach 20 vehicle in 2011, which flew for three minutes before crashing.

Testing has been plagued by problems ever since and some experts believe it may be impossible to field a manoeuvrable weapon at such speeds, due to the extreme heat generated by air friction, a phenomenon known as aerodynamic heating.

At Mach 10, air friction can generate temperatures over 2000 kelvins, or around 1,700 celsius, hotter than the melting point of steel.

Hypersonic weapons are ideally manoeuvrable within the Earth's atmosphere because fixed trajectory weapons, such as conventional ballistic missiles, are easier to detect and intercept.

There has been no confirmation as to whether Russia's Kinzhal missile was able to manoeuvre or whether it followed a fixed trajectory like a conventional ballistic missile.

Countering Russian and Chinese programs, the Pentagon has requested a $12.6 billion budget to spend on researching and testing hypersonic weapons through to 2025.

In September last year, the US successfully tested the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), which at Mach 5 is slower than the Kinzhal.