Raduga Kh-22 Storm (AS-4 Kitchen) - Combat
Kh-22 is a supersonic cruise missile (factory designation D-2) for the Tu-22 medium bomber, introoduced into operaitonal service in 1968. The first combat use of the missile was reported during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 11 May 2022, a video emerged on internet showing a Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 strategic bomber launching a pair of two Kh-22 missiles at targets somewhere in Ukraine. The approximate estimated cost of the Kh-22 missile is about $300,000-500,000.
The guidance system solution used in the X-22 was simple and extremely effective when used as intended. If the Kh-22 is used "inappropriately" problems begin, Anatoly Nesmiyan (El Murid) notes. "Developed at a time when there was no GPS at all, the missile was equipped with an advanced target capture system at that time, the essence of which was to direct the missile to the most radio-contrast target. That is, the largest within range of the rocket in the last section of the trajectory. Given that the missile was supposed to be used against sea targets, this logic looks impeccable: in a relatively dense naval formation of enemy ships, you need to find the largest ship (and it will definitely be a priority target)...
"For dense urban development, for example. A large shopping center for the guidance system looks like a more priority target than small shops, where the operator tried to direct the missile. Therefore, the guidance system will correct the "error" by solving the task within the framework of the established algorithms."
These 5.5 tonne missiles were primarily designed to destroy aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead. The circular probable deviation of Kh-22 missiles when firing at areas is 5 km. It was intended for the destruction of radar-contrast point (aircraft carriers) and planar targets (aircraft carrier strike groups) with the help of a special (nuclear) or high-explosive cumulative warhead.
When employed in a ground attack role with a conventional warhead they are highly inaccurate and can therefore cause significant collateral damage and civilian casualties. The UK Ministry of Defence reported 11 June 2022 that Russia is likely resorting to such inefficient weapon systems because it is running short of more precise modern missiles, while Ukrainian air defences still deter its tactical aircraft from conducting strikes across much of the country.
Since April 2022, Russian medium bombers have likely launched dozens of 1960s era Kh-22 (NATO designation, AS-4 KITCHEN) air-launched, heavy anti-ship missiles against land targets. On the night of May 8-9, 2022, for the first time during the war in Ukraine, Russians used Soviet X-22 air-based cruise missiles, which are carried by Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, to strike Ukraine's territory. It is a question of application of six X-22 missiles on objects in the cities of Donetsk region which are located in a frontline zone. According to the publication Defense Express, on the night of May 9, 2022, Russians fired up to six Kh-22 missiles at objects in the cities of the Donetsk region located in the front-line zone.
On the evening of May 9, 2022, Russian troops fired Kh-22 missiles at the Riviera shopping center in the village of Fontanka near Odesa and warehouses in Odesa. One person died and five were injured.
On May 12, 2022, the city of Kremenchuk was shelled , rockets hit critical infrastructure objects, including several rockets that hit the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery. According to Defense Express, 12 missiles were fired by the Russians that day. It is known that four of them, aimed at an oil refinery - of the X-22 type, were launched from Tu-22M3 bombers in the sky over the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, that is, at a maximum launch range of 600 km. The exact type of the other eight KR that were released in Kremenchuk that day remains unknown.
On May 20, 2022, a Russian Kh-22 cruise missile hit the City Palace of Culture in Lozova , Kharkiv region. At the time of the attack, 5 people were in the building. People miraculously survived, almost all of them had minor injuries. A total of 7 people were injured, the youngest was 11 years old. The rocket could hit the building of the Palace of Culture, since it is the most radio-contrast of all the surrounding buildings, because it stands apart from the others and near a large park.
On May 27, 2022, two Kh-22 missiles were allegedly fired at targets in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On May 30, 2022, units of the anti-aircraft missile forces destroyed the Kh-22 cruise missile over the Odesa region. On June 3, 2022, the Russian military from Tu-22M3 aircraft launched at least 10 X-22 missiles over the territory of Ukraine.
On June 12, 2022, the Russian military made two strikes with missiles of the X-22 type on the village of Mykolaivka (Pokrovsky District). As a result, 31 residential buildings, the administration building of the Vugleghirskaya TPP , a railway line, an ambulance vehicle, and power lines were damaged. Bakhmut and Krasnohorivka were left without electricity. On June 25, 2022, according to the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kh-22 missiles were used against targets in the north of Ukraine, including Kyiv (along with Iskander and Tochka-U land-based missiles). On June 26, repeated attacks took place.
Early in the morning of June 27, 2022 (at night), the Russian military launched a missile attack on a residential quarter in the border village of Mayaki, Odesa region. As a result of the attack, about 65 private houses were damaged, four of them completely burnt down. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has preliminary data on eight civilians who received multiple injuries. Among them are two three-year-old twins.
On the afternoon of June 27, 2022, Russian troops struck the Amstor shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk (Poltava region) with X-22 missiles . At the time of the attack, there were up to 1,000 people in the shopping center. As a result of the impact and fire, the shopping center was completely destroyed. According to the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian planes took off from the Shaykovka airfield , and the launches were carried out from the Kursk region. The second rocket almost hit the "Kredmash" plant : it fell on the northeastern edge of the enterprise, destroying one workshop and greenhouses, which were also located on its territory. Two workers were injured — they were cut by glass. The distance between the two strikes is almost a kilometer. Despite claims by Russian propaganda about the presence of a third missile, which apparently had to hit a railway depot nearby with a factory and a shopping center, no evidence of its existence or impact on the railway was observed.
And although Russian propaganda claims that the missile strike was aimed at "Western ammunition warehouses" on the territory of the plant, the alleged real target of the missile strike is the Kryukiv Bridge over the Dnipro River , which is located a couple of kilometers to the south. One of the key and few highways between the two banks of the great river (both rail and road) passes through this bridge. Before that, the Russians had already hit the bridges in Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipro, and just the day before — on the Cherkasy dam in Cherkasy.
On June 29, 2022, the Russian Tu-22M3 launched an Kh-22 missile from the sky over the Black Sea, but the Ukrainian military managed to shoot it down over the Odesa region, the debris fell into the fields, and there were no casualties.
Russia is using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stocks for more than 50 percent of its attacks in Ukraine, and the rate of the attacks has more than doubled in the last two weeks, a brigadier general in Ukraine’s armed forces said on 01 July 2022. Russian missiles have hit an array of targets in Ukraine in recent days, killing one civilian at an apartment block in Kyiv and at least 18 more at a shopping center in the central city of Kremenchuk.
Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov told a news conference that Russia was trying to hit military and critical infrastructure, but that the use of old Soviet missiles that are less accurate was leading to significant loss of civilian life. His analysis diverged from that of some Ukrainian politicians who accuse Russia of deliberately striking civilians to sow panic. “The enemy’s targets remain military facilities, critical infrastructure and industry, transport networks. At the same time, the civilian population is suffering significant losses due to [poorly targeted] strikes,” Hromov said.
On 01 July 2022 Ukrainian authorities said at least 17 people are dead and dozens wounded after a Russian missile strike on an apartment building and a resort in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa, the latest in a spate of deadly missile strikes. “One missile hit a 9-story residential building, the other two hit two recreation centers in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district. In the 9-story building, one section was completely destroyed. As of 6:00 a.m., as a result of the impact on the high-rise building, 14 people were confirmed dead and 30 injured, including three children,” the report said.
According to the State Emergency Service, as of 10:00 a.m., 18 people were reported dead as a result of a rocket attack in the village of Serhiyivka, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district (16 people in a residential building and 2 people, including 1 child, in a recreation center). 38 people were injured (37 people, including 6 children, in a residential building, and 1 person in a recreation center). 38 people were hospitalized.
The Security Service of Ukraine immediately launched an investigation into the missile attack on civilian targets in Odesa region – SSU investigators are already working at the scene of the war crime. This was announced by the Head of the SSU Ivan Bakanov. Criminal proceedings have been opened under Article 438.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of laws and customs of war).
‘The occupiers cannot win on the battlefield, so they resort to vile killing of civilians. After the enemy was ‘knocked out’ from Snake Island, they decided to respond with a cynical shelling of civilian targets. In this way, russia once again confirmed its status of a terrorist state. For russia, a holiday base is the same target as a military base. russia’s goal is literal destruction of Ukraine and our citizens. But we will make every effort to ensure that all those involved in this egregious war crime receive the most severe punishment - we will identify not only those who fired the shots, but also the ones who gave the order,’ the SSU Head Ivan Bakanov stated.
With its ground forces concentrated in Ukraine's eastern industrial region of Donbas, Russia has more than doubled the number of missile strikes around the country in the past two weeks, using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks, according to a Ukrainian brigadier general. The Ukrainian president's office said three Kh-22 missiles fired by warplanes had struck an apartment block and a campsite. Ukrainian authorities say the attack was revenge for Russian troops being forced from Snake Island, although Moscow has sought to portray their departure as a "goodwill gesture'' to help unblock the exports of grain via the Black Sea.
The UK Ministry of Defence reported 02 July 2022 "Russia continues to employ air-launched anti-ship missiles in a secondary land attack role, likely because of dwindling stockpiles of more accurate modern weapons. Analysis of CCTV footage shows the missile that impacted the Kremenchuk shopping centre on 27 June 2022 was highly likely a Kh-32. This is an upgraded version of the Soviet era Kh-22 KITCHEN. Although the Kh-32 has several performance improvements over the Kh-22, it is still not optimised to accurately strike ground targets, especially in an urban environment. This greatly increases the likelihood of collateral damage when targeting built up areas. Further strikes on 30 June 2022 in Odesa Oblast likely involved Kh-22 KITCHEN missiles. These weapons are even less accurate and unsuitable for precision strikes and have almost certainly repeatedly caused civilian casualties in recent weeks."
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