Too many missiles: Official shares details of Russian overnight strike on Ukraine
Aftermath of the overnight strike waged by Russia on Kyiv (photo: RBC-Ukraine)
During another overnight attack, Russian forces used a tactic of mass drone strikes in an attempt to overwhelm air defense systems. Russia focused on the quantity of drones rather than technological innovation, says Ukraine's defense minister adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov.
Tactics, new drone modifications
According to the adviser, the Russian army was launching drones in large numbers along the same routes.
For strikes on the capital Kyiv from the north, newly modified jet-powered Shahed drones were used, though their numbers were limited.
A small number of jet-powered Shaheds attempted to attack Kyiv from the north, using both Geran-3 and Geran-4 variants.
However, there were very few remotely controlled drones. No attempts to control Shaheds from Belarusian territory were recorded this time, which may be linked to the strike focusing on Kyiv rather than western regions of Ukraine.
Air defense performance, Russia's targets in Kyiv
The main damage was again caused by missile strikes, as the number of missiles exceeded available air defense resources. At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces demonstrated high effectiveness in countering drones.
The share of Ukrainian interceptors accounted for more than 40% of all downed drones, demonstrating positive progress in the work of the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Forces of Ukraine over the past four months.
According to the expert, Russians selected targets in Kyiv only as a pretext for striking the city.
For example, the plant in the Lukianivka district that was hit has long been destroyed in previous attacks, while there has been no personnel at the Ground Forces Command site since the first day of the war.
Overall, Russia's tactics and technology solutions during this assault did not demonstrate anything new.
Massive strike on Kyiv on May 24
On the night of May 24, Russian forces launched a massive combined strike on Ukraine, using a total of 690 aerial attack assets, including 90 missiles and 600 drones of various modifications. The main target was the capital Kyiv.
As a result, two people were killed in Kyiv, and more than 80 were injured, including children. Due to the scale of the aftermath, Ukraine called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council and OSCE mechanisms.
The building of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the historic center of the capital also sustained minor damage during this overnight assault. According to the diplomatic body, this unique architectural landmark was damaged by hostilities for the first time since World War II.
