A seemingly out-of-control Russian missile has resulted in a major embarrassment for President Vladimir Putin. A Ukraine-bound projectile struck the Russian territory instead on Saturday, triggering a huge explosion, according to reports.
The wayward missile, believed to be either a Kh-22 or Kh-32, was captured on a car dash cam video falling and hitting the ground in Russia’s Lipetsk region, some 350 miles from the warzone.
The explosion left a giant crater and is believed to have been the cause of a power cut that plunged 540 homes into darkness.
The failed cruise missile is an expensive as well as embarrassing mistake for Russia, with the Kh-22 costing around £1million, while the more sophisticated Kh-32 is valued at an eyewatering £3.5million.
The Putin-loyal Lipetsk regional government said that the explosion was the result of a “spent stage of an aviation missile system” – or non-operational debris – but other sources have dismissed this assessment.
They have argued that the missile’s shape was distinctly seen and that a spent stage would not trigger such a massive explosion.
The Exilenova Telegram channel claimed: “In fact, the Kh-22/Kh-32 missile fell [on Lipetsk region].”
Baza channel – a Russian news outlet which boasts sources in law enforcement – reported: “Residents of a village in the Yeletsky district heard a loud explosion, after which their homes lost electricity, water, and in some places even mobile communications.”
According to the Ukrainian news outlet UNN, on the morning of February 1, residents of a village in the Yelets district heard a loud rumble, after which they lost power and water. In the field, the locals saw a huge crater and thought it was an enemy missile or a UAV.
No one is said to have been killed or injured in the explosion, though some property damage has been reported, according to a statement.
According to Baza, up to 540 private residences in as many as six settlements could have been affected.
This is not the first time Russia has made a blunder like this. In January last year, the Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged that one of its aircraft had discharged a munition by mistake while flying over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region.
Clips circulating on social media showed several buildings darkened by fire and smoke and with their windows destroyed. A massive hole could also be seen on the ground. The Ministry claimed that “no one was injured”.
Just days later, an FAB-250 unguided munition was discharged over the village of Rubizhne, in the Ukrainian region of Luhansk occupied by Russia. The British MoD noted that these recent incidents happened during Russian combat sorties.
Putin has used the Kh– and Kh-32 missiles to inflict terror on Ukraine during the war.
The Kh-22 missile was developed in the early 1960s to strike adversary air defences and destroy large ships, such as aircraft carriers, military bases, ships, power plants and bridges. It has been reported that the Kh-22 can fly at 4,000 kph, or 2,486 mph.
The Kh-32 is a physically identical updated variant of the Kh-22. It was designed to be carried by the Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber and was accepted into service in 2016. The new missile features a conventional warhead, an improved rocket motor and a new radar imaging terminal seeker. It has a longer range but a smaller warhead.