Direct proof of use
The Kh-22 is documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as a Russian air-launched strike weapon, not as a transferred or captured system. Human Rights Watch reported that Ukrainian Air Force command identified the missiles used in the June 27, 2022 Kremenchuk shopping-center attack as Kh-22 cruise missiles fired from Russian aircraft, while AP and VOA relayed Ukrainian Air Force statements that a Kh-22 launched from Russia's Kursk region hit an apartment block in Dnipro on January 14, 2023.
The sources identify Russian long-range aviation and Tu-22M3 bombers as the launch path in major strikes. Ukrinform reported Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk's statement that five Kh-22 missiles were fired by five Russian Tu-22M3 bombers on January 14, 2023, one of which struck the Dnipro apartment building.
Sources: HRW Kremenchuk Shopping Center, AP Dnipro Apartment Strike, VOA Dnipro Death Toll, Ukrinform Dnipro Kh-22 Strike
Timeline
Public evidence places Russian Kh-22-family combat use in Ukraine by spring 2022. IISS assessed in July 2022 that Russia's use of the Kh-22, known by NATO as AS-4 Kitchen, showed an anti-ship missile being pressed into land-attack service against Ukrainian targets.
Two civilian-harm incidents became central reference points for the missile's Ukraine-war use. HRW documented the June 2022 Kremenchuk strike and the Ukrainian Air Force weapon identification, while AP, VOA, and Ukrinform reported the January 2023 Dnipro apartment-block strike as a Kh-22 attack.
Sources: IISS Kitchen Use Analysis, HRW Kremenchuk Shopping Center, AP Dnipro Apartment Strike, VOA Dnipro Death Toll, Ukrinform Dnipro Kh-22 Strike
Narrative
In Ukraine, Russia has used the Kh-22 family for long-range land attack from bomber aircraft. The role differs from the missile's original anti-ship design: IISS described it as an air-launched anti-ship missile with only limited secondary land-attack capability, and UK Ministry of Defence reporting summarized by GlobalSecurity said Russia had likely launched dozens of 1960s-era Kh-22 missiles against land targets by June 2022.
The Kremenchuk and Dnipro cases show the type of use most clearly supported by public sources: large-warhead missiles fired from Russian aircraft into Ukrainian urban or industrial areas. HRW documented blast effects and site evidence at Kremenchuk while noting that it had not independently verified the weapon remnants; AP, VOA, and Ukrinform reported Ukrainian Air Force identification of the Dnipro weapon as a Kh-22.
Ukrainian reporting also describes the missile as a difficult air-defense target. Ukrinform quoted Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat in July 2023 saying Ukraine had not yet destroyed any Kh-22 missiles, and Ukrainska Pravda later reported Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi's August 2024 figure of 362 Kh-22/Kh-32 launches by Tu-22M3 bombers with two reported intercepts. Those figures combine Kh-22 and Kh-32, so they support the broader Kh-22-family threat rather than a missile-by-missile breakdown.
Sources: IISS Kitchen Use Analysis, GlobalSecurity Kh-22 Combat Use, HRW Kremenchuk Shopping Center, AP Dnipro Apartment Strike, VOA Dnipro Death Toll, Ukrinform Dnipro Kh-22 Strike, Ukrinform No Kh-22 Intercepts, Ukrainska Pravda Kh-22/Kh-32 Totals
