Invaders strike on block of flats in Dnipro indicates Russia lost ability to deliver accurate long-range strikes – British intelligence
The attack on a multi-storey residential building in the city of Dnipro on January 14 was most likely carried out by a Kh-22 Burya long-range supersonic anti-ship cruise missile (NATO classification an AS-4 KITCHEN), which has low accuracy when used against ground targets, according to a defense intelligence report by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland's Department of Defense on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
"On January 14, 2023, Russia resumed long-range missile strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, the first in approximately 15 days, launching tens of missiles. As with the previous eight waves of strikes since 11 October 2022, Russia primarily targeted the Ukrainian electricity grid. An AS-4 KITCHEN large anti-ship missile, launched from a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber, highly likely struck a block of flats in Dnipro city which resulted in the death of at least 40 people," according to the statement.
In this regard, as emphasized by British intelligence, the statements of the Russian side that the Ukrainian air defense missile was to blame for the strike are unfounded. "Russia falsely implied a Ukrainian air defence missile was responsible. KITCHEN is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas," the UK Department of Defense said.
According to the statement, similar weapons were the cause of other incidents with mass casualties among the civilian population, including an attack on a shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk, Poltava region on June 27, 2022.
British intelligence said the use of such missiles for strikes on Ukrainian territory indicates the inability of Russia to deliver long-range precision strikes. "While some missiles such as KITCHEN are unsuitable for precision strike, evidence from the Ukraine war suggests that dysfunction in Russia's long-range strike capabilities is more profound. It highly likely have struggles to dynamically identify target and to access rapid and accurate battle damage assessment," according to the statement.
