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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Joe Sommerlad and Matt Mathers

What are Killjoy hypersonic missiles and how powerful are Putin’s weapons?

Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty

Russia has fired its first hypersonic missile since the summer, the British Ministry of Defence has claimed, after months of building up a large stockpile in time for a winter attack on Ukraine.

The UK MoD claimed that Russia fired one of its Killjoy missiles at a Ukrainian air base west of Kyiv last Thursday. At the time, the Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired three hypersonic missiles, one at Kyiv and two at the Starokostyantyniv military air base, and they had shot down one.

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