The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published an interview with the operator of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, which was the first in history to shoot down the Russian hypersonic aeroballistic missile Kh-47 "Kinzhal" two years ago, on May 4, 2023.

"At that moment we knew it was ballistics... but at first we thought it was just an "Iskander". And when we found the wreckage, we ourselves found out that it was a "Kinzhal". Everyone was happy, everyone congratulated each other, we were very pleased. Russia said that it was impossible to shoot down a "Kinzhal", but it turned out that everything can be shot down, everything is shot down," said military man Dmitry about that day.

The downing of the first "Kinzhal" in history became known two days after the Russian attack, when on May 6, the then commander of the Air Force, Mykola Oleschuk, published a corresponding post.

Already on May 16, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to shoot down six such missiles flying towards Kyiv, the Air Force reported.

REFERENCE.
"Kinzhal" is a Russian aeroballistic missile that can carry a nuclear charge. The maximum speed of the missile, declared by the Russian Federation, is up to 4,080 m/s (14,688 km/h), the flight altitude at the moment of reaching hypersonic speed is 20 km, and the mass of the warhead is 500 kg.