Ukraine’s Air Force said Monday it was only able to shoot down 18 of the 51 Russian missiles fired overnight at targets across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Monday it was only able to shoot down 18 of the 51 Russian missiles fired overnight at targets across Ukraine, and that 33 of the missiles could have hit their intended targets.
At least four people were killed in the latest Russian missile attack, which the Ukrainian military described as “massive.”
A major factor for the low success rate for Ukraine’s air defense in Sunday night’s attack was that Russia targeted many areas of the country that are not protected, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat .
The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said eastern and southern regions and critical infrastructure were targeted, and civilian and military facilities were hit. Notably, Kyiv was not struck in the attack. The Ukrainian capital is protected by at least one U.S.-supplied Patriot missile defense system, as well as other systems.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it used “high-precision” weapons, including its Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles, to hit Ukrainian arms production facilities.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on how low the country’s air defense missile stocks are, but Ignat suggested other factors were at play in the Sunday night attack.
The latest missile barrage from Moscow this week comes at a time when U.
