March 21 (UPI) — U.S. President Joe Biden said Russia has used hypersonic missiles against Ukraine as its military becomes stalled against Kyiv’s resistance.
The admission by the president came after Pentagon officials said it wasn’t clear to them that the Kremlin had used such weaponry, which travels at speeds of at least Mach 5, meaning five times faster than the speed of sound and considerably faster than traditional missiles.
Biden confirmed the use of the weapon to the Business Routable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting, stating Moscow has resorted to the hypersonic missile “because it’s the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty.”
“As you all know, it’s a consequential weapon,” he said.
The warheads upon this missile are the same as on the others Russia has fired at Ukraine but with the difference being that “it’s almost impossible to stop,” he said, adding that the war being drawn out is pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hand to use such weaponry.
“Putin’s back is against the wall,” Biden said. “He wasn’t anticipating the extent or the strength of our unity. And the more his back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ.”
Russia launched its invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, but it has been stalled by a strong Ukrainian resistance that has support of much of the democratic world.
Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a video message published to Twitter that it used hypersonic missiles on Friday to strike an underground missiles and aviation ammunition storage facility in western Ukraine.
In Britain, the ministry of defense late Monday said that if this claim is true, then Moscow likely used Kinzhal, or dagger, missiles, which Russia has said has a top speed of Mach 10.
Russia’s announcement of having used “developmental Kinzhal is highly likely intended to detract from a lack of progress in Russia’s ground campaign,” the ministry said Monday in a regular intelligence update on the war. “Deployment of Kinzhal is highly unlikely to materially affect the outcome of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine.”
The Congressional Research Service said in a paper published Thursday that Russia has conducted research on hypersonic weapons since the 1980s but has accelerated its efforts due to the deployment of U.S. missile defense at home and in Europe. In recent years, Moscow’s ministry of defense has announced several successful tests of such weaponry.
Biden’s admission came after two Pentagon officials said they were unable to verify that the missile was used in Ukraine.
“Look, we’ve seen the Russian claim that they used a hypersonic missile. We’re not in a position to refute that claim, but we’re also not able to independently verify it,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a press briefing on Monday.
An unnamed senior defense official reiterated this statement to reporters during a separate briefing, adding that it is “certainly possible” the missile was used.
“But it’s a bit of a head-scratcher, to be honest with you, because it’s not exactly clear why, if it’s true, why would you need a hypersonic missile fired from not that far away to hit a building?” the official asked.
“It could be that they’re running low on precision-guided munitions and feel like they need to tap into the resource. It could be that they’re trying to send a message to the West, but also to Ukraine, and trying to gain some leverage at the negotiating table,” the official said. “But, from a military perspective, if it was a hypersonic missile there’s not a whole lot of practicality about it.”
