Russians attacked Ukraine with 119 drones and missiles: Air defense response
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
On the morning of October 21, Ukraine was subjected to a massive attack by Russian forces, which utilized various types of missiles and strike drones, including Shahed drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
From 8:00 PM (Kyiv time) on October 20 to the morning of October 21, as of 9:30 AM, Ukrainian Air Force radar troops detected and tracked 119 airborne objects involved in the assault.
Among these was an Iskander-M ballistic missile launched from occupied Crimea, as well as Kh-35 and Kh-31P guided missiles fired from airspace over the Black Sea. The bulk of the air assault consisted of 116 drones launched from Russia’s Kursk, Orel, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions.
Ukrainian aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups from the Air Force and Defense Forces actively repelled the attacks.
So far, 59 enemy drones have been confirmed shot down in various regions of Ukraine, including the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Poltava regions.
Additionally, 45 Russian drones lost communication mid-flight. Preliminary data suggest that up to 10 enemy drones remain in Ukrainian airspace. Despite the active work of Ukraine's defense forces, some drones did strike civilian infrastructure, causing certain damage.
Shelling of Ukraine
Russian forces continue to carry out nightly mass attacks on Ukraine using strike drones.
On the evening of October 20, the aggressor again launched Shahed drones from the northeast and southern directions. In Kyiv, an air raid alert was declared at 12:07 AM Kyiv time, followed by a series of explosions in the capital, attributed to air defense operations. Explosions were heard several times throughout the night. The air raid alert was lifted at 5:13 AM, lasting over five hours.
That same evening, Russian forces carried out an airstrike on Kharkiv using guided aerial bombs. The attack damaged energy infrastructure, causing power outages in several parts of the city.
The occupiers deliberately targeted residential areas, including Osnovianskyi and Kyivskyi districts. The number of people injured in the Kharkiv airstrike stands at 13.
