The type of missiles used in one of the recent russian attacks was previously identified as Kh-55SM cruise missile (NATO reporting name AS-15 "Kent") which is used to deliver nuclear warheads. The information was confirmed by the representative of the Ukrainian General Staff research department Mykola Danyliuk.
The remnants of the downed russian missile were examined by specialists and exhibited during a briefing at the Military Media Center – ArmyInform.
Read more: The U.K. Defense Ministry Confirmed that Russia Uses Kh-55 Cruise Missiles with Nuclear Warhead Simulators
"It was established that these fragments belong to the Kh-55 "nuclear" strategic cruise missile. This is a Soviet missile designed to strike strategic targets by coordinates determined in advance. It flies at an extremely low altitude, at a subsonic speed with the ability to go around the topography of the area," said Colonel Danyliuk.
However, the warhead was indeed equipped with non-explosive material. He assumed that the change in tactics was "with a high degree of probability caused by several factors".
"First, we can state that a deliberate launch of such missiles is a demonstrative act aimed to distract the Ukrainian air defense systems, exhausting them while modern russian missiles Kh-101 and ZM-14 of the Kalibr system are targeting critical infrastructure facilities, which can increase the effectiveness," Mykola Danyliuk explained.
The second possible cause is the lack of cruise missiles in russian stocks to launch massive attacks on Ukraine. He warned that even non-explosive missiles are still dangerous because of their kinetic energy and remaining fuel.
On the part of Defense Express, we should note that Ukraine still has very few modern air defense systems provided by western partners, while the old Soviet ones have a certain flaw: they have a small limit of targets to work with simultaneously (one or two depending on the system) which was exploited by the russians in their missile attacks.
At the same time, russian army cannot use hordes of actual cruise missiles every time they need to breach Ukrainian air defense with numbers. That leads to the conclusion of Kh-55 with nuclear charge imitators playing the role of dummies in this case.
Another notable detail is that all of the Kh-55 missiles found by Ukraine had their serial numbers erased for a yet unknown reason.
Read more: NATO Says Mass Attacks on Ukrainian Cities Manifest russia’s Desperation
