Russian troops again launch X-55 missile with simulated nuclear warhead at Ukraine – media
During another massive attack on Ukraine on Thursday, January 26, Russia again used X-55 aircraft cruise missiles with a simulated nuclear warhead.
This was reported by the Defense Express military portal, citing its own sources.
According to the publication, this particular missile was destroyed by the Ukrainian military on approach to Kyiv. It was flying from the southeast. The wreckage of the missile was later found near Boryspil.
For the first time, the use of an X-55 missile with a mock nuclear warhead by Russian troops became known on November 17. That was when the enemy also attacked Kyiv.
Subsequently, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the discovery of fragments of X-55 cruise missiles with a simulator in Khmelnytsky and Lviv regions.
That is, on January 26, the enemy used this type of missile for at least the fourth time.
Defense Express experts have previously explained that Russia usually launched X-555 missiles at Ukraine. They are a “non-nuclear” modification of the X-55 missile. At the same time, the X-55 missile was developed as a nuclear weapons carrier.
The Defense Express portal has published several versions of the use of simulators on these missiles: Russia’s attempt to overload Ukraine’s anti-aircraft missile systems; intimidation that next time it may not be a simulator; creating interference with radar stations; reconnaissance of radar positions.
At the same time, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasized that Russia was depleting the Ukrainian air defense system with X-55 missiles without explosive warheads.
The X-55 is a strategic aviation cruise missile developed in Soviet times to arm strategic bombers. It is capable of flying at subsonic speeds and at extremely low altitudes, bending around terrain. The X-55 is designed to be used against stationary ground targets with predetermined coordinates. The range of the missile in some modifications can reach 3,500 km. The X-55 is carried by Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers.
The Defense Express portal, citing sources, also reports that the Russians have begun to camouflage their X-101 cruise missiles. They use a grinder to remove the serial numbers on the missile body to make it impossible to identify the date of manufacture. It is the serial number on the body that is erased by the occupiers that contains data on the year, quarter, batch and serial number of the missile.
In this way, Russia is probably trying to hide the pace and order of use of X-101 missiles. According to Defense Express experts, this will do little to help the Russians, as serial numbers are also on the internal components and assemblies of these missiles.
As you know, on January 26, Russian aviation fired 55 missiles at the territory of Ukraine, including the hypersonic missile Kinzhal. The Ukrainian military destroyed 47 cruise missiles, 20 of them in the Kyiv area.
In particular, in one of the districts of Kyiv region, law enforcement officers retrieved the wreckage of an X-55 missile shot down by air defense forces from a lake.
Source: Defense Express
Photo: Telegram channel of Andrey Nebitov