At approximately 1900 EST on 15MAY23, reports began to emerge of a major Russian air attack on Kyiv, Ukraine. By 2130 EST, Kyiv mayor Klitschko announced that Russian missiles, including Kh-47 Kinzhals had struck the Solomyanski district and intercepted debris has landed near the zoo. He then confirmed at least three casualties as debris and missiles fell to the ground.
By 2200 EST, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported that missile debris had fallen in four districts: Obolonskyi, Shevchenkiviskyi, Solomyanskyi, Darnytskyi. Several buildings and cars had caught fire.
By 0000 EST on 16MAY23, another sortie of drones flew against Kyiv city defenses along with more Kh-47 Khinzals.
Missile fragment that landed near a bus stop in Kyiv, appears to be the motor section from a Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal pic.twitter.com/79iqNpv6Ad
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 16, 2023
By 0100 EST, the Ukrainian government began to claim that six Kinzhal missiles were shot down, nine Kalibr missiles, and three unnamed ballistic missiles. They also claimed that six Shahed-136 drones and three unnamed drones were also downed.
However, at 0300 EST, a pro-Russian telegram page claiming to be a Russian Special Forces Brigade Commander claimed that a U.S.-made PATRIOT battery was destroyed in Kyiv and was the target of the air attack.
??#Ukraine – 20230516_03.42 am – #Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast – Ukrainian air defense. pic.twitter.com/Wfgp4T2Z1H
— glosm eusec (@glosmeusec) May 16, 2023
The Ukrainian Armed Forces counter-claimed that all incoming projectiles were shot down. Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov doubled-down that Russia only has 74 Kinzhal missiles remaining in its inventory after this attack and all were downed. Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Inhat also told press that he would not discuss the topic of a possible PATRIOT battery being destroyed, despite several photos emerging showing PATRIOT PAC-3 missile fragments in the streets.
???????? ?????? ??? "PAC-3 CRI" ??????? ?? ?????? ?????.
? ???? ?????? ??????, ????????? ????? ??? "???????" ? "????" ???????? ?? ????? ? ?????? ? ?????. pic.twitter.com/QaO4k71hTh— ????? ?????? (@igorkushnarev2) May 16, 2023
By 0600 EST, Russian state owned media began to also claim that the PATRIOT battery was destroyed. The Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson told RIA Novosti: “A high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.” This announcement was coupled with Wagner-affiliated videos claiming to show the destruction of the battery.
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Ukrainian military bloggers posted this information purporting to show the launch trajectories of the Kinzhal sorties:
“Launches were carried out by 3x MIG-31K from the Khotilovo airfield of the Tver region and 3x MIG-31K from the Akhtubinsk airfield of the Astrakhan region.”
