Following Ukraine’s allegation that it had shot down a barrage of ‘undefeatable’ missiles, three of Vladimir Putin‘s top hypersonic experts were imprisoned on charges of high treason.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, and Valery Zvegintsev are all facing “very serious accusations.”
The three people have all been involved with the weapons project for many years, and they contributed to a book chapter titled “Hypersonic Short-Duration Facilities for Aerodynamic Research at ITAM, Russia.”
Putin has long boasted that Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles and unveiled his ‘Kinzhal’ rockets in 2018, hailing them as ‘undefeatable’ by any present or future defence systems.
But he faced fresh humiliation on Tuesday when Ukraine said it had destroyed six of them in a single night.
The arrests have spread alarm through Russia’s scientific community.
Colleagues of the three men published an open letter protesting their innocence and warning the prosecutions posed serious risk to Russian science.
‘We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of,’ they said.
‘In this situation, we are not only afraid for the fate of our colleagues. We just do not understand how to continue to do our job.’
The letter cited the case of Dmitry Kolker, a Siberian scientist who was arrested last year on suspicion of state treason and flown to Moscow despite suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer.
The laser specialist died two days later. It said such cases were having a chilling effect on young Russian scientists.
‘Even now, the best students refuse to come to work with us, and our best young employees are leaving science,’ the letter stated.
‘A number of research areas that are critically important to laying the fundamental groundwork for the aerospace technology of the future are simply closing because employees are afraid to engage in such research.’
Asked about the letter, Peskov said: ‘We have indeed seen this appeal, but Russian special services are working on this. They are doing their job. These are very serious accusations.’
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said the country’s air defences, bolstered by Western-supplied systems, had thwarted an intense Russian attack.
He said the barrage included six Kinzhal aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles, the most fired in a single attack in the war so far. All were shot down, he added.
Putin has repeatedly touted the Kinzhals as providing a key strategic competitive advantage and among the most advanced weapons in his country’s arsenal.
What we know about Kinzhal, Russia’s hypersonic missile
Russia began using the Kinzhal, which means ‘dagger’, to strike targets in Ukraine early in the invasion.
But it has used the expensive weapon sparingly and against priority targets, apparently reflecting limited availability.
– It is an air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. Ukraine said six of them were fired on Tuesday.
– It has a reported range of 1,500 to 2,000 km (930 to 1,240 miles) while carrying a payload of 480 kg. It may reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,250 kph).
– The Kinzhal is one of six ‘next generation’ weapons unveiled by Putin in a speech in March 2018. He has said these weapons could penetrate both existing and any future missile defence systems.
– Putin said in December 2021, two months before the invasion of Ukraine, that Russia was the global leader in hypersonic missiles and, by the time other countries caught up, was likely to have developed technology to counteract these new weapons.
‘In our advanced developments, we are definitely the leaders,’ he said.
– Russia sent fighter jets armed with Kinzhal missiles to Syria for the first time in 2021, military analysts say.
– Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have fired a Kinzhal missile at a munitions dump in southwestern Ukraine on March 19, 2022, the first known use of the weapon in combat.
It has since fired Kinzhal missiles on several other occasions in Ukraine.
– On May 6, Ukraine said for the first time that it had shot down a Kinzhal, using a Patriot system. It was not clear whether the ‘Western’ systems Kyiv said it used against Kinzhals on Tuesday were also Patriots.
The missiles are difficult to detect and intercept because of their hypersonic speed and manoeuvrability.
If Ukraine’s claim of having shot down six fired Tuesday is confirmed, it would mark another blow to Putin’s war efforts and show the increasing effectiveness of the country’s air defences.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu contested the Ukrainian claims, telling the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency: ‘We have not launched as many Kinzhals as they allegedly shoot down every time with their statements.’