Zircon (3M22) and Oniks-M: flight time to Kyiv, speed, specs

The Zircon is a Russian anti-ship missile that has been fired at Ukrainian cities since 2024. Russia calls it hypersonic and claims Mach 8–9, but Ukrainian experts who examined the wreckage say it is much slower on approach. Zircons are launched from Bastion systems in Crimea and, since summer 2026, from Kursk Oblast; monitoring channels write "Zircon/Oniks-M". From Kursk Oblast to Kyiv it takes at least 5.0 min by our data; at the claimed speed it would be 2.6 min.

A Zircon missile in flight above the clouds, side view: a long cylindrical body, a sharp nose, small tail fins, an engine plume — Roughly what a Zircon looks like in flight: a long slender body, a sharp nose and the plume of a ramjet. AI-generated image, not a photograph — there is no openly licensed photo of the missile from Ukrainian or European sources. Illustration: Alarm Maps.

How long a Zircon takes to reach Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa and Lviv

Kursk Oblast → Kyiv · 420 km 5.0 min by our data2.6 min at the claimed speed

The first figure is at the speed the map uses for the Zircon (5,000 km/h). We took it from real attacks: in September 2026, from the channels' first post about a launch from Kursk Oblast to the explosions in Kyiv (421 km), 3 min 42 s to 4 min 52 s passed. The post comes after the launch, so the real flight is a little longer. The second figure is at Russia's claimed Mach 8 (~9,800 km/h). Media citing the Armed Forces wrote of 3.5 minutes to Kyiv ^[19]; Defense Express calculated 6–7 minutes from Crimea ^[6].

by our data at the claimed speed

Zircon flight time from launch areas to cities (straight line)
Launch area	Kyiv	Kharkiv	Dnipro	Odesa	Lviv
Kursk Oblast	5.0 min 2.6 min 420 km	2.3 min 1.2 min 193 km	4.5 min 2.3 min 372 km	8.5 min 4.3 min 706 km	11 min 5.4 min 879 km
Crimea (Sevastopol)	8.3 min 4.2 min 688 km	7.6 min 3.9 min 633 km	5.3 min 2.7 min 445 km	3.6 min 1.9 min 303 km	11 min 5.7 min 923 km
Rostov Oblast	9.1 min 4.7 min 762 km	4.8 min 2.4 min 400 km	4.5 min 2.3 min 375 km	8.3 min 4.2 min 689 km	—

Where Zircons are launched from

Crimea — Bastion coastal systems. From there Russia has struck Kyiv as well as Kharkiv and Vinnytsia oblasts ^[2].
Kursk Oblast — since 28 June 2026 the Air Force has reported "Zircon/Oniks" launches from Kursk Oblast ^[2], cutting the distance to Kyiv from about 600 to 400 km ^[3]. Launches from there were repeated on 29 and 30 September ^[4].
Rostov Oblast — an unusual "Zircon/Oniks" launch area named on 7 October 2026 ^[5].

Zircon speed: claimed and real

On the Alarm Maps map — from real attacks 5 000 km/h
In the terminal phase, per the Kyiv forensic institute 2 500 km/h
Claimed by Russia, Mach 8–9 9 800–11 000 km/h
Highest recorded, per Defence Intelligence (Mach 6.8) 8 300 km/h

Russia claims Mach 8–9. Defense Express estimates the real cruise speed at about Mach 5.5 and up to Mach 7.5 in the dive ^[6]. An Air Force spokesman said the missile slows to ~Mach 4.5 on approach ^[7], and Oleksandr Ruvin, director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, said it flies at about 2,500 km/h in the terminal phase ^[8]. After the first strike on Kyiv on 7 February 2024 the institute identified the wreckage as a Zircon and said the missile "does not match its claimed characteristics" ^[1].

Is the Zircon ballistic?

By design it is a ramjet-powered anti-ship cruise missile. But against land targets it flies like a ballistic one: according to Ihnat, it climbs above 40 km and attacks from above ^[2]. That is why the Air Force counts Zircons together with ballistic missiles, and on the Alarm Maps map it is a separate type — "Zircon" — next to ballistic.

Can Patriot shoot down a Zircon?

It can, though not always. On 15 June 2026 Patriots downed 5 of 6 Zircons over Kyiv — one of the best results, Ihnat said ^[11]. In February 2026 two of four missiles were downed or suppressed ^[10], while on 2 June — the largest Zircon strike of the war — none of eight; five people were killed in Kyiv ^[3] ^[18]. For September 2026 the Air Force reports 8 Zircons destroyed ^[12]. The main problem, Ihnat says, is the shortage of Patriot missiles, and Russia deliberately uses more Zircons to drain them ^[2].

How many Zircons Russia has

According to Defence Intelligence, in the first seven months of 2026 Russia built 33 Zircons and 60 Oniks missiles, meeting its annual plan by summer ^[13]. By 19 July 2026 alone Russia had launched about 20 Zircons — two thirds of a year's production ^[14]. Stock estimates vary — up to 120 missiles, according to a Defence Intelligence representative ^[15]. A missile costs $5–6 million (an expert's estimate) ^[15]. In March 2026 Defence Intelligence destroyed a Bastion launcher with two Zircons near Simferopol for the first time ^[16], and in August another one ^[17].

Zircon specifications

Type	ramjet-powered anti-ship missile; flies a quasi-ballistic path against land targets
Other names	3M22, Tsirkon; in the channels, "Zircon/Oniks-M", "Oniks-M/Zircon"
Speed	claimed Mach 8–9; ~Mach 5.5 in cruise (estimate), ~2,500 km/h on approach (forensic institute) ^[6] ^[8]; per Defence Intelligence — maximum Mach 8–9, highest recorded Mach 6.8 ^[23]
Range	claimed 600–1,000 km ^[8]
Warhead	claimed 300–400 kg; per the forensic institute, it holds no more than 40 kg of explosive ^[8] ^[9]; per Defence Intelligence — 120 kg ^[23]
Launchers	Bastion coastal systems (Crimea); since 2026 also ground launches from Kursk Oblast
First use against Ukraine	7 February 2024, Kyiv ^[1]
Price	$5–6 million (expert estimate) ^[15]
Size	length 8 m, diameter 0.666 m ^[23]
Flight altitude	30–40 km ^[23]
Engine and guidance per Defence Intelligence	3L2211 solid-fuel rocket engine (NPO Iskra) plus a booster; 3B222 active radar seeker (Radar MMS), Baget-83 onboard computer, satellite-navigation receiver ^[23]

Defence Intelligence classes the Zircon as a ballistic missile and lists a 3L2211 solid-fuel engine among its parts — the ramjet Russia advertises does not show up in the recovered wreckage. The warhead per Defence Intelligence is 120 kg, consistent with the forensic institute's "no more than 40 kg of explosive". The supply chain has 70 enterprises, all Russian: Radar MMS, TsNIIAG, Korund-M, the Navigation Systems design bureau, Granit-Elektron, GosNIIMash, the Perm Mashinostroitel plant ^[23].

Are the Oniks-M and the Oniks the same?

Not quite. The Zircon and the Oniks are fired from the same Bastion systems, so the Air Force and the channels often write "Zircon/Oniks". A missile flying from Kursk Oblast at Kyiv is treated by the map as a Zircon, whichever name the channel put first. The Oniks that flies from Crimea or the sea at Odesa and the coast is a different, slower supersonic missile — see the Oniks page.

What a Zircon looks like on the map

A light violet marker is a "Zircon". Next to it is the number of minutes to arrival. Open the map · all threat types · Iskander-M · Kinzhal · Oniks

Sources

Our figure — the 5,000 km/h the map uses for a Zircon's time to arrival — comes from the Alarm Maps map; how we compute it is described on the Sources page.

Updated 12 October 2026.