Russia Uses Its Newest Hypersonic Missiles For First Time To Strike Ukraine

By firing Kinzhals in Ukraine, Putin is sending a major "do not mess with us" message to the West. 

Mikoyan MiG-31K fighter jets with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles | (File Photo/ Getty Images)

Russia's defence ministry said that they have used its newest Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine on Friday. The missile destroyed a weapons storage site in Ukraine's west, AFP reported.

Russia has never admitted of using high-precision weapons in combat. The state news agency RIA Novosti said that Kinzhal, the hypersonic missile was never used previously. 

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"The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region", the Russian defence ministry said Saturday.

Vladimir Putin has previously termed Kinzhal missile as "an ideal weapon" that flies at "ten times the speed of sound". It is considered to be one of the most advanced missiles in the air-defense systems. 

The Kinzhal missile was unveiled by Putin in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018.

By firing Kinzhals in Ukraine, Putin is sending a major "do not mess with us" message to the West. He is reminding the world that, whatever logistics challenges his military faces, it retains an edge in building conventional weaponry.

The region of Ivano-Frankivsk, where the missile strike was targetted, shares a 50-kilometer (30-mile) long border with NATO member Romania. 

In a video address released in the early hours of Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had always offered solutions for peace and wanted meaningful and honest negotiations on peace and security, without delay.