Murders of civilians by AS-4 missiles in Ukraine

Kaj Stenvall paintings ”Don’t Blame Me”, 2023, oil.

Russian Tu-22M-3 bombers are hitting Ukraine with Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) 1960s missiles. 

But since AS-4 missiles have a Circular Error Probable of 3 miles, they are missing their have no targets.

The death toll by Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 50, authorities said recently, as Western analysts pointed to indications the Kremlin was preparing for a drawn-out war in Ukraine after almost 11 months of fighting.

About 1,700 people lived in the multi-storey building, and search and rescue crews have worked nonstop since Saturday's strike to locate victims and survivors in the wreckage. 

The regional administration said 39 people have been rescued so far and 30 more remain missing. Authorities said at least 75 were wounded.

With a video surfaced purporbtedly shown the release of two Kh-22 (so called ‘AS-4 Kitchen’) missiles from a Tu-22M-3 bomber.

As widely reported and thus well-known, over the last month, and in reaction to the NATO’s deliveries of heavy weapons and associated ammunition, the Russians are running an intensive campaign of interdicting the work of the Ukrainian railway system.

Initially, such operations were run with help of cruise missiles like Kh-101 and Kh-555 (ASCC/NATO-codename ‘AS-15 Kent’). These were launched exclusively from strategic bombers like Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-160. Quite often, the Russians deployed ship- and submarine-launched 3M-54 Kalibr (‘SS-N-27 Sizzler’), too.

As the stocks of these decreased, they began deploying P-600 Onix/Yakhont missiles of the K-300P Bastion-P coastal-defence system (‘SS-C-5 Stooge’), from sites on the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

About two weeks ago the Russians depleted their stocks of ballistic- and cruise missiles to the degree where they began deploying their old Kh-59s (‘AS-13 Kingbolt’): these are actually tactical, electro-optically guided missiles with a range of about 100–150km. We know that the Russians claim much more; but Russian advertisements and reality are two entirely different things. 

They are released from Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers, but the mass of examples still in service with the VKS is so old. Moreover, guiding a missile like Kh-59 under combat conditions is a very hard job.