Reciprocal attacks continue to occur between Ukraine and Russia. After Ukraine claimed to have succeeded in sinking Russia's Moskva with a locally made Neptune missile, Russia seemed to want revenge with S-400 missiles.
The Russian Defense Ministry warned that it would increase the intensity of air strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Then on April 15, Moscow accused Ukraine of sending helicopters to attack the village of Bryanks in the Russian area, close to the Ukrainian border.
Russian local media also reported that an air defense system in the form of an S-400 missile knocked down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter involved in the attack.
"The S-400 of the Russian Armed Forces shot down a Mi-8 helicopter belonging to Ukraine, which attacked a settlement in the Bryanks region," a Russian statement quoted us from Eurasianews as saying.
Ukraine itself denies having attacked Russian territory with helicopters. Regarding the helicopter crash, Ukraine has also claimed to have shot down several Russian helicopters with western-assisted missiles such as Starstreak from Britain.
The S-400 is one of the mainstays in the Russian defense system. Since its introduction in 2007, the S-400 missile, which is an upgrade from the S-300 missile, has always been Russia's favorite in case of air attacks.
In fact, Russia has already prepared its successor, the S-500 Prometheus, but the S-400 is still widely used. Sieom Wezeman of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) stated that the S-400 is one of the most advanced air defense systems today.
The S-400 missile system can target a wide range of aerial targets, including fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and missiles at a range of up to 400 kilometers at an altitude of up to 30 kilometers.
Made by the Russian company Almaz-Antey, the S-400 is cheaper than similar systems from the United States, costing around USD 300 million per system.
The S-400 missile system consists of 3 components, namely a missile launcher device, a powerful radar and a command center for attack coordination. Its radar can track targets up to 600 kilometers away.