Russia Attacked Kyiv With ‘Stealth’ Missile Carrying Cluster Munition Warhead

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) posted images on Telegram on Monday that showed a team from its Mobile Rescue Rapid Response Center dealing with the warhead from Russia’s Kh-69 stealth cruise missile shot down during the massive July 20-21 overnight attack on Kyiv. The wreckage was recovered from the yard of a residential home in one of the capital’s suburbs.

A DSNS spokesperson said: “DSNS sappers disarmed the warhead of a downed Russian Kh-69 missile, which had landed near a residential building after yet another enemy air attack and could have detonated at any moment.”

According to the bomb disposal experts that dealt with the device the warhead contained cluster munitions and required specialist equipment to safely handle the device, load it into a vehicle, and to transport it to a demolition area where it could be safely disposed of. The spokesperson once again reminded residents not to approach missile or drone debris, or other suspicious objects following Russian aerial attacks.

The recovered missile was part of a large-scale Russian attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that began just before midnight on Sunday and continued into the early hours of Monday.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched more than 450 aerial weapons that included Shahed attack drones, cruise, short-range ballistic and hypersonic missiles fired from multiple directions. During the strikes on Kyiv one person was killed and nine others were injured, including a 15-year-old girl, while residential buildings, a kindergarten, a supermarket, kiosks, garages, cars, warehouse premises and the entrance to a metro station were damaged.

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The Kh-69 (NATO: AS-22 Kazoo), Russia’s latest air-to-surface long-range cruise missile, is a development of the earlier Kh-59 designed primarily to be launched from the internal bays of the Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO: Felon) fifth generation multi-role aircraft but can also be launched from the external pylons of other Russian airframes such as the Su-30MK, Su-35, and Su-34.

The first confirmed use of the missile against Ukraine was in February 2024 when it struck the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant

The Kh-69 has a range of up to 290 kilometers (180 miles) although some assessments suggest the latest models could have a range closer to 400 kilometers (250 miles).

While not a truly stealth weapon, its shape and the materials used in construction present a reduced radar signature. Its combined GPS/GLONASS and inertial navigation systems plus its final stage optical homing head make it an accurate battlefield weapon for use against critical infrastructure using a 300-kilogram (660-pound) high explosive or cluster munition warhead.

It is seen as Russia’s answer to the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG, the US AGM-158 JASSM and German Taurus missiles.

The use of the cluster variation against purely civilian targets is yet another sign of Russia’s disregard for the safety of ordinary Ukrainians, particularly as Russian cluster munitions are notorious for dispersing “duds” which remain potentially lethal if mishandled.