Russia uses hypersonic missiles for the first time in history 2:19
(CNN) --
In March, Russia became the first country in the world to use hypersonic missiles in combat, after launching one of these projectiles against targets in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden confirmed.
Now, he has used them again, this time against the city of Odessa.
Three Kinzhal missiles — Russia's new hypersonic missiles — were fired from a plane and hit a "tourist infrastructure target," Sergey Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa regional military administration, said on Monday.
Two people were hospitalized from the impact of the missile, Bratchuk said.
CNN could not confirm the injuries.
Last minute of the war in Ukraine: Russia fires hypersonic missiles at Odessa
On March 21, when Russia launched the first of these missiles, Biden said "it's a consistent weapon... it's almost impossible to stop it. There's a reason they're using it."
Hypersonic missiles, Russia's lethal weapon 3:07
But British intelligence and even Biden's own defense secretary downplayed Russia's use of its air-launched Kinzhal missiles at the time.
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"I wouldn't see it as a sea change," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin told CBS's "Face the Nation."
And the UK Ministry of Defense said the Kinzhal missile is actually just an air-launched version of the Iskander short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), which Russia has used repeatedly in its invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carries a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aeroballistic missile during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2018.
Why the fear and hype about hypersonic missiles?
First, it is important to understand the term.
Essentially, all missiles are hypersonic, meaning they travel at least five times the speed of sound.
Almost any warhead launched from a rocket miles into the atmosphere will reach this speed in the direction of its target.
It is not a new technology.
What military powers including Russia, China, the United States and North Korea are now working on is a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV).
An HGV is a highly maneuverable payload that can theoretically fly at hypersonic speed while adjusting heading and altitude to fly under radar detection and around missile defenses.
An HGV is a nearly impossible weapon to stop.
And Russia is believed to have one HGV in its arsenal, the Avangard system, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called in 2018 "virtually invulnerable" to Western air defenses.
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But the Kinzhal, as a variant of the Iskander SRBM, is not an HGV.
While it has limited maneuverability like the Iskander, its main advantage is that it can be launched from MiG-31 fighter jets, giving it greater range and the ability to strike from multiple directions, according to a report last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Putin oversees hypersonic missile tests 0:28
"The MiG-31K can attack from unpredictable directions and could avoid interception attempts altogether. The flying transport vehicle could also have more survivability than the road-mobile Iskander system," the report says.
The same report also noted that the ground-launched Iskander proved vulnerable to missile defense systems during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, during which Azeri forces intercepted an Armenian Iskander.
"This suggests that claims about the Kinzhal's invulnerability to missile defense systems may also be somewhat exaggerated," the report says.
Does Ukraine have missile defense?
The United States and its NATO allies are already sending several surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine to help defend it.
These are the missile defense systems that the United States sent to Poland
According to a senior US official, these additional systems include the Soviet-era SA-8, SA-10, SA-12 and SA-14 mobile air defense systems.
And NATO member Slovakia has agreed to send even better S-300 missile defense batteries to Ukraine once it gets suitable replacements from NATO partners, sources told CNN.
Why is the US deploying Patriot missiles in Poland?
2:14
Why did Putin use the Kinzhal missile?
Use in Ukraine marks the combat debut of Russia's Kinzhal system.
"On March 18, the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatin, Ivano-Frankivsk region," the Defense Ministry said. From Russia.
CNN was unable to independently verify this claim.
US officials later confirmed to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles at Ukraine and was able to track the launches in real time.
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The launches were likely intended to test the weapons and send a message to the West about Russian capabilities, multiple sources told CNN.
And with the war on the ground in Ukraine turning into a stalemate, Russia may be looking for victories it can promote.
The UK Defense Ministry said Moscow likely deployed the Kinzhal to "decrease the lack of progress in Russia's ground campaign".
Austin, the US defense secretary, used similar language in his CBS interview, saying that Putin is "trying to restore some momentum" in his invasion of Ukraine.
Austin asked if the Russian military was running out of precision-guided munitions or if Putin was not confident in "the ability of his troops to restore momentum."
"You wonder why he would do this," he said.
Conflict Russia - Ukraine
