China's Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui, during a visit to Kyiv, doubted that the Patriot air defense system would shoot down the Russian "Kidzhals".
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said this in an interview with the Financial Times.
On May 16, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine with 18 missiles, 6 of which were Daggers. According to the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, the air defense destroyed all air targets.
During a visit to Kyiv, Li Hui allegedly doubted that the American Patriot had intercepted the Russian Dagger hypersonic missiles, but decided not to examine the evidence.
"I suggested that if there are doubts, we are ready to provide evidence," Reznikov said and added that the envoy left Kyiv without getting acquainted with them.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Ukraine did not respond to the FT's request for comment.
Who is Li Hui?
On April 26, during a telephone conversation between President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the latter stated China's readiness to cooperate with Kyiv and promised to send a delegation to the region to facilitate peace talks.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the People's Republic of China has allegedly maintained neutrality.
The appointment of Li Hui as the head of the delegation was perceived ambiguously because of his close ties with Russia, since he has worked in Moscow for a long time and holds Russian awards.
The first downing of "Dagger"
Defense Express was the first to report on the downing of "Kinzhal". According to his data, Ukrainian fighters were able to shoot down a hypersonic missile for the first time on May 4. Photos of the wreckage were also published. After some time, the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykola Oleschuk confirmed this information and noted that it was not made public immediately in order not to give the enemy the opportunity to use it.
