The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force made a rather bold claim this morning. He said that his country’s newly acquired (from the United States) Patriot missile system shot down one of Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic missiles over Kyiv on Wednesday. If so, that would be a remarkable feat. Thus far the Russians are keeping quiet about the alleged attack, but they’ve been working on hypersonic missiles for a while now so it might not be all that surprising if they were trying to use them against Ukraine. But some analysts immediately raised questions as to whether or not the story being conveyed was fully accurate and it clearly appears to have fallen apart under scrutiny. (AP)

Ukraine’s air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles.

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems.

“Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Oleshchuk wrote. “It happened during the night time attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region.”

A journalist from the Kyiv Post put up a video of the alleged shootdown on Twitter.

When you hear that aid for 🇺🇦 is not worth your tax dollars: This Western air defense just saved the lives of 🇺🇦civilians.

This air defense is in Kyiv thanks to your tax dollars.

Listen to the cheers of the 🇺🇦 witnesses of this: They appreciate your support for a free 🇺🇦. pic.twitter.com/I8KC8uoM6f

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 4, 2023

I’ve watched that video several times now and I can see why there may be some questions. The Russians’ Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile is capable of speeds up to Mach 10. It is also able to be fitted with both conventional and nuclear warheads. While it’s difficult to say without a better frame of reference, the object bursting into flames in the skies above Kyiv doesn’t really look like it’s going all that fast. Of course, just because the Kinzhal is capable of Mach 10 doesn’t necessarily mean that it always has to travel that quickly. But if you don’t need hypersonic speed for your attack, why use a tremendously expensive weapon like that if a conventional rocket would do the job?

Newsweek is reporting that this wasn’t the case. Some sources in the Ukrainian military have reportedly admitted that it was one of their own drones that was shot down in the video.

The suggestion that this video footage is of a Russian missile being shot down has been debunked by Ukrainian air defense, however. The Ukrainian Air Force said it downed its own drone after it lost control over Kyiv.

This took place after the initial Russian missile attacks, which happened in the early hours of the morning, according to reports.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs office via email for comment.

Adding to the dubious nature of the story are defense reports claiming that the Russian missile attack took place in the middle of the night, no later than 2 a.m. local time. The video appears to have been taken when it was light out.

This is looking more like a propaganda campaign than anything else. Notice the message being pushed by the Kyiv Post journalist who was given the video by an unnamed source. He isn’t focusing on a military victory over the Russians. The post is written in English and talks about how “your tax dollars” supporting Ukraine are “worth it.” He repeats his assurances that the Ukrainian people “appreciate” your support.

Of course, there’s always some propaganda involved in warfare. Both sides want to portray themselves in the best light and bolster support on the home front by making it look as if they are winning. America has done the same thing in previous conflicts. But this wasn’t propaganda aimed at the Russian public. It was fairly obviously designed to speak to an American audience who may be wavering in their support of a war that is dragging on far longer than was originally anticipated. And that’s a rather dishonest approach to take.