ATACMS strike hits Russian city of Voronezh despite claims of interception
ATACMS ballistic missile (Illustrative photo: army.mil)
Russia acknowledged that the city of Voronezh was attacked by US-made ATACMS missiles on November 18. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that all the missiles were intercepted, even though evidence from the scene indicates otherwise.
In particular, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that during the day on November 18, Voronezh was attacked by four ATACMS missiles. The Russian side claims that the missiles were supposedly "intercepted" by S-400 and Pantsir systems.
The fragments of the downed missiles allegedly fell on buildings in the city itself. According to the Russian version, there were no casualties from the strike. To support their statement, Russian officials even published photos of ATACMS missile remains.
However, these very photos of the supposed downed missiles undermine the claims of interception. As monitoring channels report, the photos show only what remains of a missile that has detonated: no warhead or intact electronics.
Moreover, the bodies and fragments photographed by the Russian side show no signs of damage that would be characteristic of a missile shot down by air defense. Instead, there are traces of the standard activation of an ATACMS cluster warhead.
Numerous videos of the moment of the strike on Voronezh that appeared online also show four smoke trails in the sky above the city. This is the type of trail left by ATACMS when the cluster warhead deployment mechanism activates. Therefore, it can be assumed that, in reality, the Russian side did not intercept any of the four missiles launched.
Photo: Telegram
On November 18, Russian channels and media reported that the city of Voronezh had come under a missile attack. The Russian side claimed that the strike was carried out with US-made ATACMS missiles. Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the use of American weapons, without specifying the location or targets.
