Ukrainian volunteer downs Russian missile with ‘Maxim’ machine gun

He told about the incident in a comment to Ukrinform.

“The missile was flying very low, making it difficult for large air-defense systems to detect. We requested permission to open fire and acted immediately. Bringing down such a target with a Maxim is a one-in-a-thousand chance, but we succeeded,” said Hrek.

According to him, the Kh-69 missile was flying at an altitude of about 50 meters at over 550 km/h. After a burst of fire, it began smoking and crashed several hundred meters from the unit’s position. No one was killed, only a few vehicles were damaged. It turned out that the missile carried a cluster warhead.

“Had it hit a densely populated area, the consequences would have been serious. This kind of missile scatters into dozens of submunitions,” the volunteer stressed.

Firing a weapon that is more than 100 years old, the unit managed to neutralize a target worth around half a million dollars.

“We spent 460 hryvnias on ammunition,” Hrek noted.

Most importantly, he emphasized, no one was killed — children and women remained safe.

Hrek serves in the volunteer formation Legion D of the separate Center company, created at the start of the full-scale invasion. The unit includes over a hundred volunteers, many with experience as volunteers since 2014.

“When we take up duty, we stay as long as needed. We don’t have the resources to rotate shifts. The longest watch lasted 18 hours. We are here because we can defend and contribute something to victory,” the machine gunner added.

More about the missile downing, Hrek’s story, and the Legion D volunteer unit can be found in the full video on Ukrinform’s YouTube channel.

As reported, on the night of September 7 Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and cruise missiles. In Kyiv, 20 people were injured in the attack.

Illustrative photo: Eastern Operational Territorial Unit of the National Guard of Ukraine