Spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force on modified Kh-101

Illia Yevlash, spokesman for the Air Force of Armed Forces of Ukraine, has said the Russians use a modified Kh-101 missile with a dual warhead for shorter distances. It poses a more significant threat to infrastructure facilities, equipment and manpower, but is shot down in the same way as other cruise missiles.

Source: Illia Yevlash, Head of the Air Force Public Relations Service, during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "This is the Kh-101 cruise missile fired from Tu-95MS long-range strategic bombers. It is shot down, in fact, in the same way as other cruise missiles. However, as for the warhead, the Russians use it for much shorter distances due to its smaller fuel tank, since this missile is designed to fly for thousands of kilometres. Therefore, an engineering decision was made to increase the warhead and install another one filled with destructive elements."

Details: Yevlash reports that modified Kh-101 missiles are more dangerous to unprotected targets, notably infrastructure facilities, equipment and manpower. The spokesman believes that the use of these missiles against Ukrainian cities indicates that the Russians are deliberately trying to terrorise civilians. 

Background:

• On 8 May, UK Defence Intelligence reported that the Long-Range Aviation Command of the Russian Aerospace Forces had installed a second warhead on its Kh-101/Kh-102 air-launched cruise missiles (AS-23a KODIAK in its Western classification). The Russian army has already adopted the new version of the missile.

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