Noah Romsdal Hallundbæk Sørensen
Russia launched 122 drones and ballistic missiles at Ukraine on Tuesday night, but Ukrainian air defences managed to neutralise 111 of them before dawn.
Russia launched 122 Shahed drones and ballistic missiles at Ukraine on the night of Tuesday, marking one of the largest single attacks of the week.
Ukrainian air defences managed to shoot down or neutralise the vast majority of the incoming threats before dawn.
Nine attack drones and missiles did get through, striking 11 locations across the country, while the full extent of the damage was still being assessed.
According to Ukrinform
The attack began on Monday evening
The attack started on Monday 25 May at 18:00 local time. Russia fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from the Rostov region and occupied Crimea respectively, along with 122 Shahed-type drones, including jet-powered variants.
Decoy drones of the types known as “Gerbera”, “Italmas” and “Parody” were also part of the assault.
The attack vectors came from multiple directions: Oryol, Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as Hvardiyske in Crimea.
This is a deliberate tactic designed to stretch Ukrainian air defences across a wide geographic area.
Air defences responded quickly
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the attack was countered through a coordinated effort involving aviation, air defence missile systems, electronic warfare units, drone teams and mobile fire groups.
This combination of assets has become increasingly central to Ukraine’s defence against the recurring waves of Shahed attacks.
By 08:30 on Tuesday morning, 26 May, 111 of the 122 hostile UAVs had been shot down or neutralised over northern, southern and eastern Ukraine. The wreckage of downed drones was recovered at three separate locations.
Damage and continued threat
The nine drones and missiles that were not intercepted struck a total of 11 locations across the country.
The precise details regarding damage and any casualties from the night attack had not yet been fully released.
The attack had not concluded by morning either. New groups of hostile drones continued to enter Ukrainian airspace, and the situation remained active.
The night came just days after a Russian missile strike on Derhachi in the Kharkiv region, which killed two people and wounded 23 others.
