 Civilian ships in the Black Sea can become targets of Russian Kinzel missiles. The Russian Aerospace Forces will conduct patrols over the Black Sea with MiG-31 fighter jets armed with the Kinzel hypersonic weapons President Vladimir Putin announced. This is not a threat. Based on my instructions, the Russian Aerospace Forces will begin patrols on a permanent basis in the neutral zone of the airspace over the Black Sea and the MiG-31 aircraft will be armed with Kinzel systems, Putin said. The weapons have a range of over 1,000 km and a speed of Mach 9. Ukrainian aviation expert and former engineer from the Antonov Design Bureau, Kostiantin Krivolap told RBC Ukraine that Russian MiG-31 aircraft with Kinzel missiles will not be able to hit targets in the Black Sea. The expert explained that to launch the Kinzel system, it needs to be accelerated and launched from the carrier, namely the MiG-31K. The Kinzel gained speed, reaches the stratosphere and then targets the surface or the intended target. The minimum distance from the point where the decision to launch the Kinzel from the MiG was made to the target it can hit is several hundred kilometres. According to some estimates, it's around 700 kilometres. So even if a MiG-31K with Kinzel missiles were patrolling in the Black Sea, it wouldn't be able to hit any targets in this sea due to the very limited operational zone, said the expert. In his opinion, Putin's intimidation was likely aimed at influencing Ukraine's exports through the Black Sea in order to intimidate crews that break the Russian blockade. Most likely, this statement by Putin is intended for companies that ensure ships travelling to Ukrainian ports to make them either increase their rates or refuse to ensure ships. It may also be an attempt to intimidate the captains of these vessels and make them think twice about sailing in the Black Sea, he added.