Ukrainian air defense downs 52 out of 103 drones in overnight Russian attack
Illustrative photo: Air defense shot down 52 of the 103 drones launched by Russia at Ukraine on the night of December 22 (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Russian troops attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and 103 drones on the night of December 22. Ukrainian air defense shot down half of the drones launched, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“On the night of December 22, the enemy attacked with 103 Shahed-type attack UAVs and other types of drones,” the report says.
They launched drones from the directions of Bryansk, Millerovo, Orel, Kursk, Prymorsko-Akhtarsk, and Berdiansk.
“An Iskander-M ballistic missile was also launched from Crimea in the direction of the Kherson region,” the military added.
How the air defense operated
The air attack was repelled by anti-aircraft missile troops, aviation, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
“As of 10:00 a.m., 52 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones have been confirmed downed in the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions,” the Air Force said.
Due to the active counteraction of the Ukrainian forces, 44 Russian imitator drones were lost in the area, and one drone flew in the direction of Belarus.
Consequences of the Russian attack on Ukraine
In the Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, and Kyiv regions, private businesses and apartment buildings were damaged in the Russian attack.
Drone debris fell on a high-rise building in Brovary, starting a fire. An administrative building in the Chernihiv region was damaged by falling Shahed debris.
