Military expert and retired Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin said the Tsirkon hypersonic missiles used by Russian forces in the strike on Kiev were almost impossible for air defence systems to intercept.

He explained that the Tsirkon was developed as a sea-launched hypersonic missile but could also be used effectively against ground targets. According to Dandykin, it reaches speeds of Mach 9–10, making it nearly invulnerable to interception.

The expert suggested that Russian forces had targeted facilities that were not completely destroyed in earlier strikes. Cited by Lenta.ru, he also said that Kiev had not faced attacks of this scale for some time and argued that the missiles had hit sites where equipment was being assembled.

The Russian Defence Ministry earlier reported that Russian troops struck the MLP-Chaika logistics centre in Kiev overnight on August 5. According to the ministry, the facility stored medium- and long-range drones along with components for them.

The attack also hit an automated Epicentr warehouse used to process orders and store dual-use goods and parts for drone production.

Another target was the Brovary logistics centre, a major sorting complex operated by Novaya Pochta. The ministry said fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles and their components were stored at the site.