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Kh-22 and Kh-32 missiles: speed and flight time to Kyiv

The Kh-22 is a Soviet supersonic missile launched by the Tu-22M3 bomber; the Kh-32 is its upgrade with a longer range. Both fly at 3.5–4.6 times the speed of sound, the Kh-22 carries a warhead of almost a tonne, and only Patriot can shoot them down. From Bryansk Oblast to Kyiv a Kh-22 takes 6.6 min (8.9 min at the map's speed). Not to be confused with the Oniks, a different supersonic missile launched from Crimea at the south.

A grey Kh-22 missile with a pointed nose on a trolley under a bomber's wing at a museum
A Kh-22NA missile under the wing of a Tu-22M3 at the State Aviation Museum in Kyiv. Photo: George Chernilevsky, CC BY 4.0.

How long a Kh-22 takes to reach Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa and Lviv

Bryansk Oblast → Kyiv · 408 km 8.9 min at 2,750 km/h (the map)6.6 min at Mach 3.5 (Kh-22)

The times below are for a straight line from the launch area to the city centre. The first figure is at the speed the map uses for all supersonic missiles (2,750 km/h, as for the Oniks); the second is at the Kh-22's speed of about Mach 3.5 (~3,700 km/h at altitude). The Kh-32 is even faster in its dive, so the real flight is closer to the second figure. The Air Force does not publish official flight times to Kyiv.

at the map's speed at Mach 3.5

Kh-22 flight time from launch areas to cities (straight line)
Launch areaKyivKharkivDniproOdesaLviv
Bryansk Oblast 8.9 min 6.6 min 408 km 8.4 min 6.2 min 384 km 12 min 8.7 min 534 km 17 min 13 min 796 km 18 min 13 min 808 km
Kursk Oblast 9.2 min 6.8 min 420 km 4.2 min 3.1 min 193 km 8.1 min 6.0 min 372 km 15 min 11 min 706 km 19 min 14 min 879 km
Black Sea 16 min 12 min 713 km 15 min 11 min 673 km 11 min 7.9 min 484 km 6.8 min 5.0 min 310 km 20 min 15 min 927 km

Where the Kh-22 and Kh-32 are launched from

In 2026 the Kh-22 and Kh-32 are used rarely: on 24 January Ihnat said such missiles had "not been in the reports for a long time" [2], and they are absent from the Air Force's totals for September 2026 [8]. Since April 2026, according to Defence Intelligence, Russia has paused serial production of the Kh-32 [7].

Kh-22 and Kh-32 speed

The Kh-22 flies at about Mach 3.5, the Kh-22NA at up to Mach 4 [1]. The Kh-32 climbs high and then dives steeply onto the target, accelerating to Mach 4.6 [4]. Because of this path and speed, ordinary surface-to-air missiles can hardly touch them.

Can the Kh-22 be shot down?

Yes, but only by Patriot: "Only Patriot systems can intercept such targets," says Ihnat [6]. The first Kh-22s were downed on 19 April 2024 — two of six [1]. Over the whole war, according to the Air Force, Russia has used 412 Kh-22 and Kh-32 missiles; until 24 January 2026 only 3 had been shot down, and that night 9 more of the 12 flying at Kyiv [2].

The Kh-22 was designed against ships and is inaccurate against ground targets, and its heavy warhead makes every miss deadly. Kh-22s killed 22 people in a Kremenchuk shopping centre in June 2022 and 46 people in an apartment block in Dnipro on 14 January 2023 [1].

A burnt cylindrical missile warhead strapped in a tractor trailer on snow
The warhead of a Kh-32 that fell in Sumy Oblast and did not explode, January 2024. Photo: National Police of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0.

Kh-22 and Kh-32 specifications

Kh-22Kh-32
CarrierTu-22M3Tu-22M3
SpeedMach 3.5; Kh-22NA up to Mach 4 [1]Mach 3.5–4.6 [4]
Rangeup to 300 km; Kh-22NA up to 600 km [1]600–1,000 km [4]
Warhead~900–950 kg [1] [2]smaller, weight undisclosed [4]
Flight pathhigh altitude, diving onto the targetclimb to high altitude and a steep dive
What can shoot it downPatriot [6]

Kh-22 vs Oniks: the difference

On the Alarm Maps map both are one "Supersonic" type, but they are different weapons. The Kh-22 and Kh-32 are fired from Tu-22M3 bombers, fly faster (Mach 3.5–4.6) and carry a heavier warhead. The Oniks is an anti-ship missile of the Bastion coastal systems in Crimea: slower (~Mach 2.5), it approaches skimming the water and strikes mostly Odesa Oblast. More on the Oniks page; the Oniks-M, which channels report together with the Zircon, is on the Zircon page.

What a Kh-22 looks like on the map

A pink marker with swept wings is a "Supersonic missile" (the map uses it for the Kh-22, Kh-32 and the sea-launched Oniks). Next to it is the number of minutes to arrival. Open the map · all threat types · Oniks · Zircon · Kinzhal · Kh-101

Sources

  1. NV — Kh-22 missiles: can air defence shoot them down, how far they fly (19.04.2024, Ukrainian)
  2. Ukrainska Pravda — Ihnat on the Kh-22 strike on Kyiv (24.01.2026)
  3. Militarnyi — an attack with Kh-22/32 and Zircon missiles (24.01.2026)
  4. Kyiv Independent — what we know about the Kh-32 (01.02.2026)
  5. BlackSeaNews — Kh-22 launch areas (22.12.2024)
  6. Fakty — Ihnat: only Patriot intercepts the Kh-22 (24.01.2026, Ukrainian)
  7. Militarnyi — Russia paused Kinzhal and Kh-32 production (10.08.2026, Ukrainian)
  8. Interfax-Ukraine — Air Force totals for September 2026 (10.10.2026)

Our figure — the 2,750 km/h the map uses for a supersonic missile's time to arrival — comes from the Alarm Maps map; how we compute it is described on the Sources page.

Updated .