As reported on March 12 by the Greek portal of political and military information Pronews, citing American sources, in the course of an operation to retaliate for a provocation in the Bryansk region, a Russian hypersonic missile “Dagger” struck at a joint Ukrainian-NATO command and communications center.
According to Pronews , “dozens of NATO officers” were killed in a “terrifying strike” by a Mach 12 missile. In all likelihood, we are talking about the defeat of the “shadow General Staff” of NATO in Ukraine. The secret underground bunker, built at a depth of 400 feet (120 meters), housed several NATO officers (retired) and advisers. In total, more than 300 people.
To date, according to the portal, 40 people have been pulled out from under the rubble of the underground headquarters, but most of those who died under the rubble have not yet been found.
It is not known, the portal continues, exactly how many Western citizens and how many Ukrainians were killed as a result of the “Dagger” strike. “Most of them, ” according to Pronews, “are British and Poles, but there were also Americans and representatives of private companies that support communication and data transmission. In the coming days, it will be seen to what extent this will affect the conduct of Ukrainian and Western operations and attempts to stop the final phase of the Russian offensive on Bakhmut.
“This, ” says Pronews, “is the first such large-scale strike against the military personnel of NATO countries, and it is not known how the Western capitals will react to this, although in the event of a reaction, it would be like recognizing the active participation of military personnel in the war against Russia.”
According to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, the bases of attack drones have been destroyed, the transfer of reserves and rail transportation of foreign weapons have been disrupted, and production facilities for the repair of military equipment and the production of ammunition have been disabled.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Zaluzhny, on the consequences of the Russian strike on Ukrainian targets on the night of March 8-9, the Russian side fired 81 missiles, including Kh-47 Kinzhal, X-22, Kh-101 / Kh-555, as well as 8 Geranium UAVs. According to Zelensky, “it was a hard night”; as observers noted, while the president of Ukraine looked like a beaten dog.
The statements of Ukrainian officials say nothing about the defeat of the NATO bunker and the death of Western military personnel. However, information is circulating in Ukrainian publics that on March 9, a delegation of the General Staff of Ukraine visited the American embassy in Kiev, as it is supposed, in order to transfer the lists of the Americans who died during the strike.
“The use of hypersonic missiles has heightened U.S. anxiety and demonstrated that Russia has a hard-to-intercept nuclear-capable weapon,” the Washington Post said . The United States has not yet been able to develop its own missiles with similar characteristics, which makes Western countries even more vulnerable, the authors of the material concluded.
Kinzhal is the latest Russian system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles carried by specially equipped MiG-31K interceptors. The missile has low radar visibility and high maneuverability and is designed to destroy land and sea targets. The Kinzhal complexes have been on experimental combat duty in the RF Armed Forces since December 2017. Officially, the first combat use of these missiles took place on March 18, 2022 during the SVO.
As Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force command, said, “we cannot yet counteract these missiles, they fly along a ballistic trajectory. We have no means against them . “
The Russian military launched a missile strike against Ukrainian infrastructure facilities with a wide variety of missiles and aerial drones, destroying NATO’s secret headquarters in Ukraine, WarFiles reports.
According to Ukraine, the attacks were carried out with thousands:
- X-47 Kinzhal (“Dagger”),
- X-22,
- X-101 / X-555,
- UAV “Geran”.
In Ukraine, they immediately reported that 34 missiles were allegedly shot down, and eight “as a result of an organized response did not hit their targets.”
This is doubtful even for the Ukrainians themselves, who see the thousands flying through the windows. Citizens believe that the air defense “if they were able to shoot down something in the attempt, at most a couple of them.”
Ukrainian (and even American) air defense cannot shoot down the “Dagger” at an altitude of 20 km, and after the missile gains altitude, it falls at high speed on the target and nothing can be done about it.
“In fact, the attack hit control and planning centers in bunkers, as well as air defense/radar stations. Heavy losses of officers, including Americans, were recorded. It seems that NATO’s proxy “Shadow Staff” got quite a bit,” the authors of “Military Materials” write.
After that, according to the publication, representatives of the Ukrainian General Staff came to the US Embassy, most likely to transfer the lists of the dead.
It is also known about the hits on the IRIS and NASAMS air defense systems, which were powered by dummy missiles and were destroyed by the X-men flying after them. Almost immediately, public sites that posted this information were blocked.
The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy, German Galushchenko, separately admitted that the missile attack damaged at least three thermal power plants. In fact, energy and military installations in up to 12 regions came under heavy fire.