Iskander-K Brought Down in Kyiv Air Raid—By a 23mm Gun From 1960s, Video

Ukrainian troops managed to shoot down a Russian Iskander-K cruise missile using nothing more than a decades-old anti-aircraft gun, the Presidential Brigade of Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced on September 8.

The unit released video footage of the strike on its official Telegram channel.

“Shooting down a cruise missile with a ZU-23 that’s older than your father is a mix of luck and serious skill. During the enemy’s latest air attack on the capital, the fighters of our anti-aircraft missile-artillery battalion pulled it off,” the brigade wrote.

The Russian Iskander-K cruise missile measures 6.2 meters in length with a diameter of 0.5 meters. It is capable of striking targets at ranges of up to 500 kilometers, though Russia has a modified version with a reach of up to 2,500 kilometers—violating the now-defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The missile travels at over 900 km/h and can fly at ultra-low altitudes of just 6–7 meters, making it notoriously hard to intercept.

The Ukrainian troops downed the missile using a Soviet-era ZU-23 twin 23mm anti-aircraft gun. First introduced in 1960, the system can fire up to 2,000 rounds per minute with an effective range of about 2.5 kilometers.

Despite its age and limited reach, the ZU-23 remains in use due to its simplicity and firepower.

Earlier, reports emerged that a Russian Iskander-K cruise missile slammed into Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers building during Moscow’s overnight mass strike on September 7, carrying a 450-kilogram warhead that failed to detonate.

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