Direct proof of use
The Kh-101 is documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as a Russian air-launched cruise missile used in long-range strikes against Ukraine. A May 2023 UK Ministry of Defence statement said Russian forces conducted strikes against Ukraine between April 27 and May 2, 2023 using Kh-101 and Kh-555 long-range air-launched cruise missiles.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine later examined a December 29, 2023 strike on the Appolo Shopping Centre in Dnipro and determined that the weapon had characteristics of a Kh-101 cruise missile, adding that such missiles are used by Russian armed forces in Ukraine and are not known to be in Ukraine's stockpile.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence reported in May 2026 that Kh-101, Kh-55, and Kh-555 cruise missiles continued to be launched by Russia against Ukraine in 2026, and that analysis after use in real combat conditions showed four major Kh-101 modernization stages.
Sources: UK Defence Secretary Statement, UN Commission Ukraine Report, Ukraine MOD Kh-101 Modifications
Dated strike evidence
The public record shows the Kh-101 across repeated Russian strike waves rather than as a single isolated event. The UK statement places Kh-101 and Kh-555 use in a late-April to early-May 2023 strike period. The UN commission's Dnipro finding gives a forensic attribution for one missile in the December 29, 2023 mass strike wave.
Conflict Armament Research documented a further Kh-101 case after the July 8, 2024 strike on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt children's hospital, reporting that the missile was manufactured in Russia only weeks, and potentially days, before the attack. Amnesty International separately described the same July 8 attack as a Russian Kh-101 strike on Okhmatdyt, based on field research and digital verification.
In February 2026, Conflict Armament Research reported that its investigators documented remnants of a Russian-manufactured Kh-101 recovered in Ukraine in January 2026, with production markings indicating manufacture fewer than 20 days before deployment.
Sources: UK Defence Secretary Statement, UN Commission Ukraine Report, CAR Field Dispatches, Amnesty Ukraine Child Casualties, Ukraine MOD Kh-101 Modifications
Operational role
In this conflict, the Kh-101 appears as part of Russia's long-range strike campaign from strategic aviation. Public sources tie it to attacks far from the front line, including urban, infrastructure, commercial, and medical-facility contexts, while the sources used here identify the missile through strike reporting, recovered remnants, and post-strike technical analysis rather than through launch-site observation.
The Ukraine Ministry of Defence's 2026 analysis describes wartime Kh-101 changes that include a dual-warhead configuration, cluster submunitions with zirconium elements, upgraded combined navigation, and an SP-504 self-protection jammer and decoy-flare suite. Those claims support the missile's continued role in Russian attempts to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses, but they come from a Ukrainian government source and should be read as attributed technical assessment.
The sources directly support Russian use and recovery of Kh-101 missiles in Ukraine. They do not support Ukrainian possession or use of the Kh-101, and the UN commission explicitly noted that Kh-101 missiles are not known to be part of the Ukrainian stockpile.
Sources: UN Commission Ukraine Report, Ukraine MOD Kh-101 Modifications, CAR Field Dispatches
