Massive Shahed attack in southern Ukraine on Christmas Eve: Consequences revealed

Initially, the enemy's tactical aviation launched Kh-59 missiles toward Kropyvnytskyi and Kh-31P toward Chornomorsk in the Odesa region. Anti-aircraft units destroyed both missiles.

Then, a 6.5-hour drone attack ensued.

Air defense forces successfully destroyed 22 Shahed-136 attack drones:

• 17 in the Odesa region,
• 3 in the Kherson region,
• 1 in the Mykolaiv region,
• 1 in the Kirovohrad region.

"The enemy drones, launched from the temporarily occupied Crimea, approached from different directions, attempting to exhaust our air defense and damage as many objects as possible. The enemy's priority remains port infrastructure and other vital regional assets," the statement said.

Debris from the downed drones caused damage to technical facilities in the port infrastructure of Odesa. In the Rozdilnyanskyi district, debris from the downed drones damaged an inactive administrative building and a storage facility of a preserved object, which was promptly extinguished. No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, in the Beryslavskyi district of the Kherson region, avoiding hits was impossible. According to the Defense Forces South, a fire broke out in storage facilities, which firefighters have already extinguished.

Russian aircraft shot down

It's worth noting that according to the General Staff, Ukrainian air defense forces shot down a Russian Su-34 bomber and Su-30 fighter on December 24.

This is the second significant success for the air defense forces recently. Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced on December 22 that the Ukrainian military shot down three Russian Su-34 aircraft in the southern direction. He noted that this was in response to the night drone attack.