Missile remnants in Kyiv pond trigger emergency response

The Ukrainian rescue service reports an unusual find in one of Kyiv's ponds. Remnants of a Russian Kh-101 missile were discovered. The wreck posed a danger to people – it was like a ticking time bomb – so it was taken by sappers and detonated in a safe location.

Ukrainians have frequently found unexploded Russian missiles and bombs in various locations. In recent months, a warhead from a Russian Kinzhal Kh-47M2 hypersonic missile was identified in the Khmelnytskyi region, which sappers handled due to the threat it posed to local residents.

A similar discovery occurred in Kyiv recently. In one of the ponds near buildings, Ukrainians found remnants of a Kh-101 cruise missile – one of the more popular weapons recently used by Russians for shelling, which is also one of the most developed by their defence industry.

According to the Ukrainian service, the dangerous find was handled by appropriate units. It was decided to transport the missile, broken during a previous shelling towards Kyiv, to a safe place and then conduct its controlled detonation to ensure the weapon did not threaten residents. Simultaneously, Ukrainian services issued a notice to citizens not to touch any found weapon remnants under any circumstances. "Immediately report the discovery of a suspicious object to the services and wait for specialists," the notice reads.

The Kh-101 missile found in Kyiv is ammunition produced in series by the Russian defence industry from 2010-2011. This means that the Kh-101 is one of the latest designs in the arsenal of the Russian Federation. Over the years, the weapon has undergone several upgrades – today, the Russians are shelling Ukraine with the fourth version of this missile.

In its latest version, the Kh-101 is equipped with two warheads, one of which is a cluster warhead. This allows for strikes over an even larger area than a strike with a standard warhead. Notably, the Kh-101 includes a modern Otblesk-U guidance module that compares the image recorded from above (during flight) with what was recorded before the missile was launched, stored in its memory. This ensures the strike accuracy of this missile is determined to be within a few metres.

The impressive range of the Kh-101, which is said to be up to 5,000 kilometres, has likely been reduced due to recent ammunition updates. However, it remains large enough to launch the missile from safe positions within Russian territory. The maximum speed of the Kh-101 is approximately 1,000 kilometres per hour.