Russia launches overnight drone and missile attack on Ukraine, Odesa region targeted
Photo: Air defenses shot down 70 enemy aerial targets overnight (Getty Images)
On the night of July 18, Russia attacked Ukraine with seven missiles and 90 attack drones. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted most of the incoming targets, but some strikes got through, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Overnight, Russian forces launched:
- two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- two Oniks anti-ship missiles from the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- three Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles from the airspace over the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- 90 Shahed attack drones (including jet-powered variants), Gerbera and Italmas drones, Banderol loitering munitions, and Parodiya decoy drones launched from the directions of Bryansk, Oryol, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as occupied Donetsk and Hvardiiske in occupied Crimea.
The main target of the attack was the Odesa region.
According to preliminary data, as of 9:00 a.m., Ukrainian air defenses had shot down or electronically suppressed one Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missile and 69 enemy drones over northern, southern, and eastern Ukraine.
Missile strikes and impacts from 19 attack drones were recorded at 19 locations. Debris from intercepted targets fell at five additional locations.
"The attack is ongoing, with several enemy drones still in Ukrainian airspace. Please follow all safety guidelines!" the Air Force warned.
Shelling of Ukraine
As previously reported, late on July 17, the Russian army launched a missile strike on a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel and the Port of Odesa. Several crew members were injured.
Over the past day, drones also attacked a humanitarian warehouse operated by the United Nations World Food Programme in Dnipro four times. No staff members were injured.
