Ukraine says Russia has fired five Zircon missiles at Kyiv this year

MOSCOW: Russia has used five of its new hypersonic Zircon missiles to attack Kyiv since the start of the year, the city's military administration said on Monday.

The attacks are among more than 180 Russian missile and drone attacks launched against the Ukrainian capital in the first three months of the year, the administration said in a post on Telegram.

The sea-based Zircon missiles have a range of 1,000 km and travel at nine times the speed of sound, Russia says. Military analysts have said the missiles' hypersonic speed could mean greatly reduced reaction time for air defences and a capability to attack large, deep and hardened targets.


President Putin confirmed in his annual state-of-the-nation address on Feb. 29 that Russia had used Zircon missiles in battle, without saying what sites had been targeted. He has described the Zircon as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems.