Ukraine Army Successfully Takes Down 6 Russian Missiles In 3 Minutes

One of the anti-aircraft missile divisions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's Air Force has hit 30 enemy targets since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine in February.

In one instance, Russian forces fired seven "Kalibr" cruise missiles from different locations at the same time, and the unit commanded by Lt. Col. Dmytro Shumakov was able to shoot down all but one of the munitions in less than three minutes, ArmyInform reported.

"The enemy Kalibrs changed their trajectory sharply, and six targets ended up in [our zone]," said Shumakov, who commands the anti-aircraft missile division that performs combat missions covering the Ukrainian city of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"It was unexpected, but everyone got involved, coordinated and worked professionally. Everything happened literally within two to three minutes. When we realized that it was a massive attack and, thank God, we managed to repulse it without casualties or losses, and everything turned out as it should have been, these emotions were etched into my memory," he added.

It is unclear what happened to the seventh Kalibr missile that was not shot down.

While Shumakov's division was able to hit 30 enemy targets, the officer noted that the Russians' use of high-speed targets has made things more difficult for them.

"The enemy is changing tactics - changing the altitude of the missiles, routes, actively maneuvering," he told ArmyInform, which is a media agency under the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Despite these challenges, Ukrainian forces will find a way to uncover Russia's vulnerabilities, according to Shumakov.

"In war, everyone learns very quickly, and the price of a mistake can, unfortunately, be very high," said the officer, a recipient of the Hero of Ukraine and Order of Danylo Halytsky state awards.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally handed the Hero of Ukraine award to Shumakov on Aug. 5, which he received for his "personal courage, significant contribution to the protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

It is unclear what weapons Ukrainian forces used against the 30 air targets that they claimed to have hit.

Ukraine operated Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile systems as of 2018, according to a statement released by the MoD at the time.

Among these systems were variants of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system, which utilized warheads that had the most operational ranges in Ukraine's inventory.

At least 22 Ukrainian S-300 launchers have been destroyed following Russia's invasion, according to Oryx, an open-source database that tracks military equipment losses using photo or video evidence.