According to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta magazine (The Russian Newspaper), the Russian Armed Forces employed Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile weapons three times during a special military operation in Ukraine.
On March 18, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile was launched for the first time in Ukraine to destroy the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)’s underground missile and aircraft ammunition storage facility in the hamlet of Delyatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk area. The Aegis Ashore missile defense system is located at NATO’s Deveselu army camp in Romania, which is barely 80 kilometers distant, according to the publication.
According to the report, “the strike with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles demonstrated quite clearly that our hypersonic missiles with conventional warheads would, if necessary, sweep away the NATO Aegis Ashore missile defense system before it can be placed on alert.”
The US Naval Research Institute claimed that missile defense systems already in place in Poland and Romania may be quickly turned into offensive weapons in November 2018.