Despite rumors, Ukraine's air defense remains strong – Expert
Aftermath of the June 23 overnight strike on Kyiv (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
In the early hours of Monday, June 23, Russia launched another large-scale strike on Ukrainian territory. Amid the attack, rumors circulated online suggesting that air defense systems had performed poorly, aviation expert Valerii Romanenko says in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.
"As for the rumors that air defense efficiency is declining — in fact, the situation is not so clear-cut," the expert said.
He recalled that during the June 1 Shahed drone attack, Russian forces launched 472 drones. Of those, 210 were shot down and 172 were lost due to localization failures — bringing the air defense effectiveness to 81%.
"On June 2–3, 65–64 drones were launched. The next large-scale attack involved 407 Shaheds, with an interception rate of 90.5%. On June 9, another mass attack with 479 Shaheds had a 96% interception rate. Today's attack involved 352 drones, with the same 96% effectiveness," Romanenko noted.
As for missiles, he said Russia launched 11 Iskanders, with 10 either shot down or lost due to technical failure — an interception rate of over 90%.
"And of the cruise-type Iskanders that were launched, all five were shot down — that's a 100% interception rate. So where exactly is the decline in air defense effectiveness?" the expert stated.
Attack on Kyiv
In the early hours of June 23, Russian forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on Kyiv.
One of the missiles struck a five-story residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, completely destroying one of its sections. In the aftermath of the strike, rumors began circulating online suggesting that the effectiveness of Ukraine's air defense systems had significantly declined.
