Ukrainian intelligence identifies Russians launching Kinzhal hypersonic missiles on Ukraine

Officers and analysts of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) have identified 29 command, flight and technical personnel belonging to the 44th Separate Aviation Regiment of the Special Purpose Long-Range Aviation of Russia’s Aerospace Forces who are responsible for launching Kinzhal hypersonic missile attacks on Ukraine.

Source: DIU

Details: Seven officers from the regiment's technical staff have also been identified.

The 44 Russians include a colonel, seven lieutenant colonels and several majors. The full list is available on the website of DIU.

The 44th Separate Air Force Regiment (military unit No. 83122) was formed on 1 December 2021, and its permanent location is the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

The regiment has a two-squadron structure with up to 24 MiG-31K long-range fighter-interceptor aircraft.

The regiment's MiG-31K aircraft tail numbers have also been established: RF-20862, RF-03230, RF-20882, RF-03231, RF-03234, RF-19275, RF-94268, RF-42251, RF-42253, RF-20867 and RF-20883.

For reference: The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-to-ground missile system (500 kg warhead, nuclear armament possible) is designed to deliver the fastest possible strikes at a range of up to 2,000 km.

The missile's hypersonic flight speed at the final stage is achieved by accelerating the carrier aircraft to supersonic parameters (i.e. the MiG-31K acts as a first stage).

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