A US-made Patriot system was likely damaged, but not destroyed, as the result of a Russian missile barrage in and around Kyiv early Tuesday morning local time, a United States official tells CNN.

The US is still assessing the extent of the damage, the official said. That will determine whether the system needs to be pulled back entirely or simply repaired on the spot by the Ukrainians.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday in a post on Telegram that “a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.”

Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that they successfully intercepted all six hypersonic missiles fired by the Russians, but the Ukrainian military declined to comment on the Russians’ claim that a Patriot system was hit.

“We cannot comment on this. We'll stay out of commenting on Russian sources,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said.

Ukraine currently has two Patriot air defense systems in the country, one donated by the US and the other donated jointly by Germany and the Netherlands. It is unclear which of those systems was potentially damaged.

Some context: Russia has targeted the systems with hypersonic missiles before, US officials told CNN last week, including once on May 4. That attack failed, and Ukrainians successfully intercepted the missile before it could hit the Patriot, the officials said. 

But US officials believe the Russians have been able to pick up on signals that are emitted from the Patriot, allowing them to target the system using the hypersonic missile, known as the Kinzhal or Killjoy.

More background: The Patriot missile system has a powerful radar to detect incoming targets at long-range, making it a potent air defense platform capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and more. 

But the radar emission necessary to spot threats at a distance also makes it possible for the enemy to detect the Patriot battery and figure out its location. And unlike some shorter-range air defenses provided to Ukraine that are mobile and harder to target, the large Patriot battery is a larger and more stationary system, making it possible for the Russians to zero in on the location over time.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat's first name.