Governor: Russia’s New Aircraft Ammunition Can Reach Any Area in Kharkiv

KHARKIV, UKRAINE, March 30 – The munition used by Russia to hit a residential area in Kharkiv on March 27 can reach any area of the city, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration head Oleh Syniehubov said to Suspilne.

“It can completely reach the city of Kharkiv, any district. Even settlements in Kharkiv region, depending on the distance to the border. There were two shots, they were not fired simultaneously. There was a time gap. They had different flight paths. This indicates that it was probably a test. Perhaps they were looking for our air defense systems to detect them. The ammunition came into Kharkiv from different directions: one from the north, the other through Bohodukhiv and further down, from the western part of the city.”, the official said.

According to him, experts have established that the Russians launched two air bombs on Kharkiv from a Sukhoi aircraft: “This is an airborne missile that clings to an aircraft. It was modified to be guided and hit ground targets.”

The bombs were launched from Russia’s Belgorod region, flying 72–74 kilometers. Russia is inventing new means of destruction. There is an “evolution” of the KAB: first, the wings were updated, then these wings became movable, and then a new stage – the use of a large-calibre guided munition. It flies farther than the KAB – up to 90 km.

What to know regarding the shelling of Kharkiv on March 27, 2024

At around 3:53 p.m. on March 27, the Russian military attacked Kharkiv. Two strikes were recorded in the central residential area of the city. A 59-year-old man was killed and 19 wounded, including four children.

According to the governor Oleh Syniehubov, there were partial destructions in two high-rise buildings, and the shelling damaged at least 14 buildings.

Kharkiv regional police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko noted that the strike occurred midday because “most people are in the street. That’s why there is a lot of wounded. No military facilities are nearby; the strike hit a residential area.”

It also became known that the Russians struck Kharkiv with a D-30 UMPB munition. According to Oleh Syniehubov and Volodymyr Tymoshko, this is a new type of weapon. It is pretty powerful, with an average explosive force between an air bomb and a rocket. A 30-cm caliber ammunition can fly up to 90 kilometres. It can be used both on an airplane and on Smerch MLRS. The final information will be known after the examination.

“I think it was a test against the civilian population of Kharkiv. It was very cynical. This is the first time such a munition has been used in Kharkiv,” added Syniehubov.

What is UMPB D-30 munition?

The termination of the use of air bombs was because Russian failed to overcome Ukrainian air defense. Now Russian army are coming up with various ways to defeat the Ukrainian air defense system near Kharkiv.

That’s what the UMPB kits are for – universal planning and correction modules, which Russians use to retrofit their bombs, of which Russia has tens of thousands in stock, to fly longer distances and thus evade their aircraft. But we see that we solved this problem with the same wandering Patriot and, managed to do it, shooting down many planes.

Now, Russians have made another attempt and used, so to speak, experimentally, a tool called the UMPB. It appeared only in early March and was first used in Myrnohrad, Donetsk Oblast. When the strike also targeted civilian infrastructure, civilians were injured. Essentially, the Russian army claims that the universal interspecies glider munition that Russia is making is supposed to be highly accurate.

More from Gwara

Ukrainian forces have now stabilized the situation at the frontline. Still, the Russian army may be preparing for a new counteroffensive in May-June, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CBS News.

Ukraine’s President claims that the situation in the east of the country, where it is most dangerous, has been stabilized “as far as possible” given the shortage of weapons.

“We have stabilized the situation. It is better than it used to be two or three months ago when we had a big deficit of artillery ammunition, different kinds of weapons,” he said, “We totally didn’t see the big, huge counteroffensive from Russia… They didn’t have success”.

The President also said what’s needed most are American Patriot missile defense systems, and more artillery. While he’s grateful for the billions of dollars in U.S. support his country has already received, he said the nature of the funding dedicated by the American government to help Ukraine must be put into perspective.

Calling Russia’s invasion of his country a war “against the democracy, against the values, against the whole world,” Zelenskyy said there may be some in the West who were tired of hearing the message, “but only those are tired who are not at war, who don’t know what war is, and who have never lost his or her children.”