Experts have found that the Zircon hypersonic missile recently launched by Russian troops was quite new - manufactured during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said Ilya Yevlash, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during a telethon on Monday, UNN reports.
The Russians have quite a few missiles left. As we know, according to the GUR, there are almost a thousand of them left. And the enemy is constantly using new missiles. That is, their stockpile has already been significantly exhausted. We can see this even by analyzing the missiles that the enemy has recently used. For example, when they used Zircon. For example, our Kyiv Research and Expert Center found that the missile was quite new, meaning that it was produced during the full-scale invasion
According to him, "among other things, we see that they accumulate a stockpile over a period of time and then use it." "That is, we see that they don't have much time, they just made this missile and immediately put it into action, including using and testing it in combat conditions, testing our air defense, testing their missiles, including other missiles, and North Korean missiles, as we see, were used on our territory," the AFU spokesman said.
"So, of course, one of the functions of such strikes is also intelligence," he said.
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Experts from the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise were the first to officially report that Russia used Zircon missiles during the February 7 attack on Ukraine.
"According to preliminary information, there is indeed evidence of the use of a 3M22 Zircon missile. This is evidenced by the markings on parts and fragments, the identification of components and parts, and the features of the relevant type of weapon. Several pieces of debris have laser engraved and embossed inscriptions 3L22, indicating a specific assembly from a specific product. In addition, the bolts on the steering mechanisms are marked with the number 26, which is a feature of the Zircon. Other markings on the missile wreckage indicate the date of production of its components - late 2023-2024. This means that the missile was assembled recently," Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, said earlier.
Subsequently, Ruvin clarified that two Zircon missiles were shot down in the sky over Kyiv region. The missile does not meet the characteristics declared by Russia and does not contain any of the latest technologies.
"The missile was flying at a speed of no more than 2,500 kilometers. The damaging factors so far do not correspond to the declared ones either. The assembly is Russian: in some places there are still laser written numbers, and somewhere they are scratched out with nails. Some boards are hand-assembled. There are some new things directly in some units. Everything else is the same: standard engines, metal quality, components are nothing special, nothing revolutionary. We are, however, now studying what kind of explosive was used," Ruvin said.