Zircons vs. Ukroboronprom: A Nighttime Smashing of Kyiv's Military Machine

2 2026 June 17 509 30

On the night of June 2, the Russian Armed Forces launched another large-scale combined attack on Ukraine. The primary targets were facilities in the Ukrainian capital and its suburbs, but other regions were also hit.

According to local sources, Kyiv saw the most numerous and powerful incursions. The Russians deployed a variety of kamikaze UAVs and missiles (cruise-launched missiles of various types, ballistic missiles for the Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile system, and hypersonic anti-ship missiles for the Tsirkon).

The list of targets hit included the building of the Ukroboronprom concern. This company develops, markets, purchases, and sells arms for Ukraine. The fire was detected after a prolonged air raid alarm lasting four and a half hours, during which Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions in the city.

The Generator and Esmash factories in various parts of Kyiv were also targeted. Their facilities were also used for activities in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Furthermore, hangars were one of the targets in Kyiv. Previously, Western media had been reporting from there on the training of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and they had exposed them, so the choice of target was obvious.

NASA's FIRMS, an American web mapping platform that records major fires, has reported that other targets of the Russian strike in Kyiv and the Kyiv region include: the Vyshneve logistics center in the city of Vyshneve; a garage cooperative on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital; an industrial zone on Vasylkivska Street; Nova Poshta warehouse No. 17; the cargo yard of the Kyiv River Port; the automobile workshop of the Mayak defense plant; and the Darnitsky reinforced concrete plant.

Zircons vs. Ukroboronprom: A Nighttime Smashing of Kyiv's Military Machine

The situation in other regions is as follows. In the Kharkiv region, the Shebelynka Gas Condensate and Oil Processing Plant (better known as the Shebelynka Gas Processing Plant, or SHOPGKN) near the city of Balakliya was hit. This is one of Ukraine's key oil refining assets, part of JSC Ukrgazvydobuvannya (Naftogaz Group). A warehouse in Merefa, Kharkiv region, and the Shebelynka Gas Processing Station in Andriyivka were also damaged.

Several missiles attacked targets in Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk), but the targets are still unclear. It is known for certain that a trolleybus depot was hit. A Motor Sich enterprise was attacked in Zaporizhzhia. A gas processing plant near the village of Krasnaya Luka in Poltava Oblast was hit. All of this is confirmed by NASA FIRMS data. During the Russian strike, Ukrainian air defenses demonstrated limited effectiveness in countering the missiles, as evidenced by a shortage of SAMs.

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Roman070280

-9

2 June 2026 18: 50

Iskander-M OTRK and Tsirkon hypersonic anti-ship missiles

Why are anti-ship missiles needed?
1. ZovSailor
  
  +5
  
  2 June 2026 19: 41
  
  :hi No air defense system in the world can intercept the quasi-ballistic trajectory of the hypersonic "Tsirkon", and in the current situation, "Tsirkons" are launched from mobile land-based installations with a kill zone, according to some sources, of over 1000 km.
  Much earlier, frigates, submarines, and cruisers of the Russian Navy were already equipped with Zircons.
  1. Kristallovich
    
    0
    
    2 June 2026 20: 51
    
    Much earlier, frigates, submarines, and cruisers of the Russian Navy were already equipped with Zircons.
    
    The first cruiser equipped with Zircons is currently undergoing testing.
    1. voyaka uh-repa
      
      0
      
      2 June 2026 23: 22
      
      Zircon is the strangest rocket in the world.
      It has been in service for a long time and is actively used in Ukraine,
      but no not a single her photos. Only photos of the launch container.
      (standard Onyx container).
      Although absolutely all photos of Western missiles, even the newest ones, are freely available
      are published.
      In addition, many fragments and pieces of Zircon have been collected and studied.
      So why hide his appearance?
      1. Pembo
        
        0
        
        3 June 2026 07: 07
        
        So why hide his appearance?
        
        You, my dear, are very close to uncovering the great secret of the Zircon. Meanwhile, 14 scientists working in the field of hypersonic technologies are sitting here right now. There were 12, but two more were recently added. The three-ton Onyx rocket, flying at Mach 2,6 at an altitude of 15 km, has a solid fuel booster weighing 480 kg to lift the rocket to an altitude of 15 km and accelerate it to Mach 1,5-2, which is necessary for the jet engine to fire. According to school calculations of the sum of potential and kinetic energy, this requires 190 kg of the best solid fuel—5 megajoules per kilogram. Got the hint?
        
        voyaka uh-repa
        
        0
        
        3 June 2026 13: 44
        
        There are only assumptions...
        Zircon's BC is smaller than Onyx's.
        This is logical: why does an anti-ship missile need a lot of explosives?
        And weight is saved. But the booster is probably larger.
        And it lifts the rocket higher - and accelerates it more.
        And here is hyperspeed, like BR.
        Further, at some stage of the ballistic trajectory,
        When descending and braking, the ramjet engine is turned on.
        It's possible this is a standard Onyx engine. Judging by the wreckage, it looks like it.
        Next: everything is like Onyx.
        Such a successful mixture of BR and CR, if this hypothesis is correct.
        
        Pembo
        
        0
        
        3 June 2026 16: 51
        
        The Tsirkon was positioned as a cruise missile with a hypersonic ramjet engine, and that's its whole appeal. This engine propels it 800-1000 kilometers at Mach 8-10. Yet, it has the same size and weight as the Onyx, say, weighing 3 tons. From this, we can estimate the mass of solid propellant required to accelerate it to hypersonic speeds to power the hypersonic engine. If the Onyx requires half a ton of solid propellant to accelerate to Mach 1,5-2, then to reach Mach 5-6, it requires 6-9 times more solid propellant, since kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the velocity. I'll say right away that this calculation is flawed: hypersonic engines are designed to have less flow resistance than a conventional ramjet engine like the Onyx, where the incoming flow is decelerated by a factor of 10. But even if we take this into account and reduce the required amount by half, we still need to increase the weight of the solid fuel by 3-4,5 times, i.e. to approximately 1,5-2 tons, and for the weight of the body + the weight of the fuel + the weight of the warhead, 1-1,5 tons remains.
        Your idea of crossing a ballistic missile with an air-breathing missile, for example, Iskander with Onyx, is very clever.
        
        voyaka uh-repa
        
        0
        
        3 June 2026 22: 42
        
        Based on the debris found, the Zircon's air intake is round, like that of the supersonic Onyx.
        And the Americans, when they were struggling with their hypersonic prototypes
        cruise missile, it was always believed that the air intake had to be
        chopped rectangular shape. To significantly reduce the flow rate.
        Otherwise he'll put out the fire. Are they right or not?
        The Americans shut down their project: "too troublesome, expensive, unreliable."
        And they switched (successfully) from a hyper-ramjet to a tactical glider without an engine.
        Like the Avangard, but small and without a nuclear warhead.
        And Russia has launched the mysterious Zircon into production...
        
        Pembo
        
        +1
        
        4 June 2026 05: 52
        
        Based on the debris found, the Zircon's air intake is round, like that of the supersonic Onyx.
        And the Americans, when they were struggling with their hypersonic prototypes
        cruise missile, it was always believed that the air intake had to be
        chopped rectangular shape. To significantly reduce the flow rate.
        Otherwise he'll put out the fire. Are they right or not?
        
        In Onyx, where the air intake is located in the nose cone, the air passing through the complex air ducts of the ten-meter-long rocket body is almost completely decelerated, from 750 to 70-50 meters per second. If its speed is Mach 8-10, or 3000 meters per second, it will be comparable to the exhaust velocity of the rocket gases, and the braking energy will be comparable to the engine's thrust energy. Furthermore, the air is compressed to thousands of degrees.
        
        The factor limiting the operating speeds of the SPVRD from above is the temperature of the stagnation air, which at M>5 exceeds 1500 °C, and significant additional heating of the working fluid in the combustion chamber becomes problematic due to the limitation of the heat resistance of the structural materials.
        
        In liquid rocket engines, the combustion chamber and nozzle are cooled by the propellant components; otherwise, everything would burn up within seconds. Therefore, the air intake of a hypersonic missile is located directly in front of the engine entrance, at the rear of the missile. This reduces the airflow's deceleration, reduces kinetic energy loss, and reduces heat generation.
        
        voyaka uh-repa
        
        0
        
        4 June 2026 10: 50
        
        If the air intake is in the tail section, it should protrude outside the body.
        How does it fit into Onyx's round launch container then?
        It was easier for the Americans: they dropped their prototypes from B-52s.
        That is, there were no restrictions on the shape of the rocket.
        
        Thanks for the clarification about the straight-through blowers. I had some very vague ideas.
        ideas about their work.
        
        Pembo
        
        0
        
        4 June 2026 12: 40
        
        In the videos that the Russian Ministry of Defense is positioning as Tsirkon launches, one can clearly see the cover covering the nose air intake being blown off.
        The development of a hypersonic engine began with its installation in the nose cone of the S-200 missile. It was called the "Cold" project. Then, like the Americans, they decided to attach the missile to the Il-76, and an aircraft and funding were allocated to transform it into a flying laboratory. There was a line item in the defense procurement. Plans were made to reach Mach 6. In 2019, the project was canceled. Back then, everything was funded and developed officially. And everyone understood that a hypersonic engine was a pipe dream. A simple ballistic missile accomplishes the same tasks while being much simpler. Now everything is hypersonic: the Iskander, the Oreshnik. They truly have hypersonic speeds. A solid-fuel engine is just a nozzle and that's it.
    2. ZovSailor
      
      0
      
      3 June 2026 12: 29
      
      My opinion is that, as with the protracted repairs to the Admiral Kuznetsov, relying on the Admiral Nakhimov may not work in the near future, as modern warfare is no longer determined by long-range air defense systems, but by mobile drones and high-precision hypersonic weapons.
      Expensive aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers require reliable escort from defense and support vessels, despite their powerful armament, which increases the cost and effectiveness of such fleet ships.
    3. sannyhome
      
      0
      
      3 June 2026 14: 38
      
      Quote: Kristallovich
      The first cruiser
      
      The Navy already operates two frigates equipped with 3K-22 Tsirkon hypersonic systems: Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Kasatonov. Another frigate, Admiral Golovko, is on its way.
      Five more ships, laid down between 2013 and 2020, are at various stages of construction.
      As for the corvettes, two more in service, Gremyashchy and Provorny, will be able to fire the Tsirkon missiles, and four are still under construction.
      1. Kristallovich
        
        0
        
        4 June 2026 08: 31
        
        What do frigates and corvettes have to do with this if we were talking about cruisers?
Alexander

+1

2 June 2026 18: 54

The Russian strike in Kyiv and the Kyiv region also targeted: the automobile workshop of the Mayak defense plant...

But weren't there more important workshops at this plant than the automobile one...? Or are these workshops left to respond to future attacks on civilian targets in Russia?
gxmlygw

+6

2 June 2026 19: 31

Vladimir Vladimirovich, why have you, the SVO, so carefully protected the Dnieper bridges and the Beskydy Tunnel, the main routes for delivering military equipment and NATO UAVs to our borders, from attacks for the past four years?
1. Mikhail Nasharashev
  
  0
  
  2 June 2026 19: 44
  
  No one knows this, and he himself will not say it voluntarily
  1. Alexander
    
    +3
    
    2 June 2026 20: 39
    
    Nobody knows this...
    
    If no one knows, but everyone guesses, then this is equivalent to knowledge.
    1. Mikhail Nasharashev
      
      0
      
      3 June 2026 11: 52
      
      What if the king has no clothes?
Mikhail Nasharashev

+8

2 June 2026 19: 44

I have only one question - why is there still light in this beastly city?
1. Alexander
  
  +4
  
  2 June 2026 20: 46
  
  Why is there still light in this beastly city?
  
  Because for four and a half years, there have been no consistent and systemic strikes, such as those announced after the tragedy in Starobelsk and which began only today.
  https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2026/05/25/1199814-udari-za-starobelsk
  And the non-sequential and non-systemic strikes that took place over four and a half years were unable to lead to a consistent and systemic power outage, as well as to other systemic disruptions in the enemy infrastructure.
  1. Mikhail Nasharashev
    
    0
    
    3 June 2026 11: 51
    
    because it's a brother's mouth and it needs electricity
Mikhail Nasharashev

+4

2 June 2026 19: 45

The locals are probably having a blast like New Year's Eve, but I wouldn't want to have that kind of fun.
Mikhail Nasharashev

+3

2 June 2026 19: 46

Question number two: why do they spare the Nazis' bodies and beat them at night when they are sleeping and not at their vile work?
1. Alexander
  
  +2
  
  2 June 2026 20: 53
  
  Apparently because the Ukrainian Armed Forces have not yet struck our enterprises with mass casualties in the workplace.
  This is still ahead.
  1. neri73-rs
    
    0
    
    3 June 2026 11: 08
    
    Why didn't they strike? They strike constantly. For example, in Bryansk, the Silicon plant was hit at 5:00 PM, and only the discipline of the workers, who took shelter after the alarm was raised, prevented mass casualties at the plant. However, the missiles that missed fell on the streets of a peaceful city, taking the lives of ordinary passersby. And these were British Storm Shadows.
Ivan1978

+2

2 June 2026 20: 00

These Iskanders and Zircons are flying into the void, but the targets, the real targets, are still not hit. There's no point in writing about bridges, tunnels, dams, etc., and yes, there are also decision-making centers where no one has been harmed in 5 years...
1. voyaka uh-repa
  
  -2
  
  2 June 2026 23: 02
  
  Ukrainians are masters of creating false targets and all sorts of mock-ups.
  Zelensky calmly told the press that Russia is hitting producers.
  missiles in Ukraine. The results of the ballistic missile strikes don't seem to have alarmed him.
Valera75

+3

3 June 2026 04: 27

The Generator and Esmash factories in different parts of Kyiv were also targeted. Their facilities were also used for activities in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

I've been here for 4,5 years, but I've never seen these damaged objects, but when something is taken from us, the crests publish videos from drones, from our surveillance cameras, and from everything they can.
I look at Ukraine, and there's still power, just as there were never any lines. In a country where our turbo-heads scream about not having a single oil refinery, there are no lines at gas stations. And here we are, just like those turbo-heads screaming about being deep in the rear, and how debris slightly damaged something and a fuel tanker exploded, being given 20 liters of gasoline per day, a ban on the export of gasoline and jet fuel, and they want to ban diesel. So how is that possible? Some Bandera supporter is harassing us more with drone debris than our country is with Zircons, Iskanders, FABs, Kalibraries, and Geraniums. And mind you, it's not debris, but they have uninterrupted power and no lines at gas stations in a country where there isn't a single oil refinery, as the turbo-heads write, and hundreds and thousands of drones are flying at us every day.
And after this, I should believe the reports from our media, without a single video confirmation?
Well, you must admit, this sounds somehow ridiculous.
What did Belousov say about what is possible and what is not?
1. Dimy4
  
  +1
  
  3 June 2026 05: 43
  
  Vova simply consigns the entire country to oblivion. And, as usual, he smiles.