Ukrainian soldier destroys Russian missile with his first ever shot

Dmytro Herasymenko, an anti-aircraft gunner of a radio engineering battalion protection unit, has destroyed a Russian missile launched from an Igla man-portable air defence system during his very first combat deployment.

Source: Command of the Air Force of Ukraine

The Command of the Air Force of Ukraine says the soldier’s successful "debut" took place after Easter.

Quote: "The command gave us a day off for the holiday, so for the first time in a long time we gathered as a family at a large table, everyone wished each other ‘a clear sky, peace, calm shifts…’ We must have jinxed it… Just as I came to work in the morning in a good mood, an air-raid siren sounded," the fighter recalls.

Dmytro was at the post when fire adjustment data came from the command post: "Incoming, turned south, look carefully..."

"And before that, I only fired on a simulator. My heart is racing, I listen to every sound so as not to miss the nasty thing… However, in reality, it is impossible to miss it or confuse it with something. I noticed the missile when the distance to it was 600 metres. The whole thing – from target detection to launch – was just seconds!" Dmytro explains.

He says that anti-aircraft gunners always have two charged launch pipes with them, but in reality, there is only a chance for one full attempt.

"I’ve activated the man-portable air defence system, pointed at the target, and fired. I saw how my missile confidently caught up with the Russian one. An explosion – and a hit! To be honest, I didn't immediately believe it myself... Theoretically, the Igla is not designed to destroy cruise missiles. As you can see, in practice, everything is quite possible," the soldier says.

The man jokes that he was most amused by his wife's reaction – she read on regional media sources that an "anti-aircraft defence system was responding nearby". And when she found out that her husband had destroyed the missile, she asked several times in shock: "So, you're the air defence?"

How does the radio engineering battalion operate?

Dmytro emphasises that it is incorrect to count downed missiles as a result of one person’s work. The main task of the radio engineering battalion in which he serves is the detection of air targets.

"Our radar stations work around the clock, scanning the airspace. They are manned 24/7 by people on combat duty, identify and track targets, and transmit information to command posts.

Thanks to this work, Ukraine knows where and when to wait for missiles or Shahed drones. And the calculations of anti-aircraft missile systems, fighter aircraft, mobile fire groups, like ours, receive clear coordinates for the destruction of targets," Dmytro Herasymenko explains.

He is convinced that "destroying an enemy target" is only the tip of the iceberg in the overall chain of the air defence system, because behind every landed missile or drone is the perfectly coordinated work of a large team.

"My immediate task, and that of my unit, is to guard, protect and defend the battalion's combat positions from enemy attack, particularly from the air. But now the tasks are broader – we are defending Ukraine from air attacks," the soldier concludes.

Soldier Dmytro Herasymenko was decorated with the Order For Courage, third class, and gifted a watch from the commander of the Air Force.

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