The Air Force Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on its Facebook page on Sunday that there was “no doubt” the Russian missile that hit an apartment building in Dnipro on Saturday was a Kh-22 missile.
“[A] Radar detected the approximate launch location, altitude and flight speed. No doubt it was an X-22 [Kh-22] missiles,” it said.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces lack the firepower to shoot down such missiles. Since Russia began its military aggression, more than 210 of these missiles have been fired into Ukraine. None have been shot down by our air defenses,” the post added.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said the Kh-22 “was launched from a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber, from areas around Kursk and the Sea of Azov.”
“The missiles were fired a total of five times,” Inat said.
Referring to Saturday’s attack, Inat said: “With such a missile they attacked a densely populated city where there were people, women and children. There is no explanation or justification for this horrific act.”
Originally designed as an anti-ship missile, the Kh-22 is an older and less accurate weapon than most modern missiles. But Western analysts say it is only accurate to a radius of about 500 meters (about 1,600 feet).
CNN reported last June that the same Kh-22 had hit a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in June it had targeted a military vehicle maintenance facility hundreds of meters from the mall. At least 18 people were killed in that attack.
The death toll from a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in Dnipro rose to 20 on Sunday, a day after missiles and explosions were heard across the country.
At least 73 people were wounded in the attack on the nine-story apartment building, four of them in critical condition, said Valentin Reznichenko, head of the Dnepropetrovsk regional military administration.