Kyiv government building targeted by Iskander missile, not Shahed drone: Footage
Photo: Russia struck the Cabinet of Ministers with an Iskander missile (facebook.com/kmathernova)
The Russian army used an Iskander cruise missile, not a Shahed kamikaze drone, to strike the Cabinet of Ministers building on the night of September 7, according to Defense Express and EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová on Facebook.
According to the outlet’s sources, the analysis of debris indicates that an Iskander missile struck the government building. However, the missile’s warhead did not detonate.
The ignition of rocket fuel caused the fire on the upper floors of the Cabinet of Ministers.
For her part, Ambassador Mathernová confirmed that the Russians used an Iskander missile for the strike.
"I saw it with my own eyes: Putin (Russian President Vladimir Putin - ed.) knows exactly what he is doing. The Iskander ballistic missile that struck the Cabinet of Ministers was aimed right there - at the heart of Ukraine’s government. We were shown sizeable remnants of the actual missile. And a multitude of shrapnel coming from the cluster munition embedded in the Iskander," she said.
Photo: aftermath of the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers building (facebook.com/kmathernova)
Photo: aftermath of the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers building (facebook.com/kmathernova)
Photo: aftermath of the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers building (facebook.com/kmathernova)
Photo: aftermath of the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers building (facebook.com/kmathernova)
Photo: aftermath of the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers building (facebook.com/kmathernova)
According to official information from the Ukrainian Air Force, on the night of September 7, the Russian forces used nine Iskander cruise missiles in the attack, four of which were shot down.
At the same time, the enemy deployed 810 drones of various types, as well as four ballistic missiles.
As Defense Express notes, the 9M727 cruise missile is part of the Iskander operational-tactical complex, along with the 9M728 and 9M729. It is most often referred to as the Iskander-K or R-500. According to experts, the 9M727 is considered a land-based modification of the 3M-14 Kalibr naval missile.
Russia has been actively using this type of weapon in strikes against Ukrainian cities. One of the most notorious cases was the strike on the drama theater in Chernihiv in 2023. Like most samples of Russian weaponry, the missile contains a significant number of Western-made civilian components.
If the warhead — weighing around 450 kg — had detonated as intended, the consequences of such strikes would have been far more devastating.
Attack on the Cabinet of Ministers
On the night of September 7, the Russian army carried out another massive strike on Ukraine.
As Western media reported, the enemy breached one of the most heavily protected zones for the first time — the government quarter. The Cabinet of Ministers building was hit.
Military expert Vladyslav Seleznov, commenting on the attack, pointed out that even such a dense air defense system protecting Kyiv cannot intercept all targets.
