Ukraine Used Expired Patriot Missiles, Knutov Says
Yury Knutov says Ukraine used expired Polish-supplied Patriot missiles against a Russian strike, causing damage after failed intercept attempts.
Ukrainian forces attempted to repel a retaliatory strike by the Russian Armed Forces using expired missiles supplied by Poland, according to military analyst and air defence historian Yury Knutov.
Knutov explained that a functioning Patriot surface-to-air missile should climb upward after missing its target, dump its fuel and detonate in the air. This sequence is designed to reduce damage from falling debris.
According to the analyst, despite the political scandal between Poland and Ukraine, Warsaw still transferred expired missiles to Kyiv through closed channels. He said the missiles performed poorly: after heading toward a target, they sharply changed course and fell to the ground, including in residential areas, causing destruction.
Knutov added that PAC-2 missiles for Patriot systems carry a powerful warhead weighing about 90 kilograms and use a solid-fuel engine. Because of this, he said, the missiles produced strong explosions when they fell, hit civilian facilities and caused significant damage.
Overnight from July 5 to July 6, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive group retaliatory strike on Ukrainian territory. Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as other parts of the country, came under attack.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the targets of the large-scale strike were fuel and energy facilities, military-industrial enterprises and military airfields in the Kyiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava and Chernigov Regions.