Russia attacks Ukraine: Kalibr cruise missiles 'tested' in Syrian battlefield

As missiles struck Ukrainian cities early on February 24 with columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia, Putin's regime said it was using artillery and missiles to target cities.

Russian defence authorities announced they were using Kalibr cruise missiles among other heavy weapons against Ukraine.

In fact, during the naval exercise ships and submarines from the Northern and Black Sea Fleets launched Kalibr cruise missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles at sea and land targets. General Valery Gerasimov said the aim was to "guarantee the defeat of the enemy".

Russia's defence ministry also released footage of aircraft launching a Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile and striking a land target.

Russia's Kalibr is a land-attack cruise missile with an estimated range of 1,500 to 2,500 km and is launched by the Russian Navy due to its ground attack capabilities.

It is a submarine and ship-based missile which has been in service since 2015. The sea-launched land-attack cruise missile is being used currently by the Russian navy to target Ukrainian cities.

It was "tested" earlier in the Syrian battlefield as Russia launched the missiles against anti-Assad regime forces in 2015. The Russian Navy fired the missiles from the Caspian Sea from frigates and ships.

Russia reportedly also has a submarine variant and has deployed the Kalibr missiles in corvettes in the Baltic Sea.

Russia had opened its campaign in the early morning hours with Kalibr land-attack cruise missile (LACM) which reportedly carried a warhead weighing 990 pounds.

Reports claim the missiles were fired from the Black Sea at Ukraine. The Ukrainian defence forces said Russia had launched more than 30 attacks using Kalibr cruise missiles in the early morning hours on February 24 including LRS, aircraft weapons, and artillery on Ukrainian civilian and military infrastructure.

Ukraine also reported "sabotage" and "reconnaissance groups" in the Black Sea area including Besarabsky operational area.

Reports claim the missile is like the US UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile.

Russia has employed hundreds of powerful and precise ballistic missiles in the first days of its Ukraine attack, but analysts and US officials say many Ukrainian defences remain intact - effects that countries around the world are watching closely.

The use of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) is likely being watched closely as a real-world case study by China, North Korea, and other countries that have been developing increasingly advanced arsenals of such weapons in recent years. And Western governments who see Russia as an adversary are eager to gather data on the missiles' effects in combat.

Russia had fired more than 320 missiles last Sunday morning, with the majority of them SRBMs, a US official said.

According to US estimates, the initial hours of the Russian onslaught last week included more than 100 missiles launched from land and sea, mostly SRBMs but also cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles.

According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS), Kinzhal has been deployed on a squadron of MiG-31Ks in the southern military district and the western military district is set to receive the hypersonic weapon in the near future.

The missile known as the "Dagger” is an Air-launched Ballistic Missile (ALBM) with a payload of 480 kgs. It has a range of 1,500-2,000 km and was reportedly put in service in 2017.

The Kinzhal is typically described as a weapon intended to destroy high-value ground targets, such as missile defence sites, CSIS said in its study.

(Photo courtesy: Russian Aerospace Forces)

The missile system primarily targets aircraft carriers, Aegis cruisers and destroyers. "The Kinzhal may also have an important land-attack role in northern Europe considering that an Iskander brigade was recently deployed near the Norwegian border," CSIS said in its report.

Russia has already announced it will hold huge naval drills in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean this month and February at a time of heightened tensions with Western nations.

The wargames will involve more than 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 pieces of military equipment, and about 10,000 servicemen.

(Photo Courtesy: Russian ministry of defence)