Russian drone assault on Ukraine: 51 shot down, 60 go silent
The Russians launched an overnight attack on Ukraine using Shahed drones. 136 unmanned aerial vehicles were deployed in the assault, with 51 successfully intercepted and communication with 60 drones lost.
According to the statement shared on Telegram, the enemy launched an S-300/400 guided anti-aircraft missile from a temporarily occupied area within the Donetsk region. They also attacked the northern Chernihiv region with a Kh-59 guided missile fired from the airspace over the Kursk region. Additionally, they deployed 136 combat drones in the assault.
The report highlighted that 51 enemy drones were successfully intercepted in aerial combat over the regions of Sumy, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, and Chernivtsi. Additionally, electronic warfare operations across different parts of Ukraine disrupted communications with 60 Russian drones, leading to their loss of control.
Drones also hit their targets
However, not all drones were neutralised. The attack led to a fire at an industrial facility in the Ternopil region.
The Institute for the Study of War reported in its latest briefing that Russia has upgraded the Shahed-136 drones, enabling them to achieve higher altitudes and speeds.
The American think tank bases its findings on the account of a Ukrainian officer who serves in a mobile air defence unit. According to him, the Shaheds were previously very slow, lacked manoeuvrability, and could only operate at low altitudes.
