[15][16] Russian media state the missile's range as 2,000 km (1,200 mi; 1,100 nmi) when carried by the MiG-31K and 3,000 km (1,900 mi; 1,600 nmi) when carried by the Tu-22M3; in both cases these figures are arrived at by adding the aircraft's combat radius to the missile's range.

[17] Its range once launched from its aircraft has been estimated between 460 and 480 km, similar to that of the Iskander missile upon which its design is reportedly based.

[1] U.S. defense officials have concluded that existing radar architectures are insufficient to detect and track hypersonic weapons.

[18][19] In March 2022, American President Joe Biden confirmed that Russia used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine.

[33] In June 2021, a Kinzhal missile was launched by a MiG-31K from Khmeimim Air Base on a ground target in Syria.

[35] Rumours in early February 2022 suggested that several MiG-31 interceptors armed with Kinzhal missiles were dispatched from Soltsy Air Base, Novgorod Oblast, to Chernyakhovsk Naval Air Base in Russia's western Kaliningrad exclave.

[39] Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Aerospace Forces to begin permanent patrols over the Black Sea region with MiG-31K aircraft armed with Kinzhal missiles on 18 October 2023.

[41] During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military claimed to have used Kinzhal missiles to destroy an alleged underground weapons depot of the Ukrainian armed forces in Deliatyn on 18 March 2022, followed by a fuel depot in Konstantinovka the next day.

[45] In another development, three MiG-31K fighter aircraft equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were redeployed to the Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad Region on 18 August 2022.

[50][51][52][53] According to CNN, the Patriot system's ability to stop an air-launched hypersonic missile was considered to be only theoretical before the claimed interception.

[55] On 10 May 2023, Vitali Klitschko showed fragments of the alleged downed Kinzhal missile for Bild journalists in Kyiv.