Russia launches mass overnight missile, drone attack on Ukraine

Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, firing 71 missiles, including 32 ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said on February 3.

Ukrainian air defences intercepted 38 of the missiles, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In total, Ukrainian radar units detected 521 aerial attack systems during the assault. These included four Zircon or Oniks missiles launched from Russian-occupied Crimea, 32 Iskander-M ballistic missiles or S-300 missiles fired from Russia’s Bryansk region and occupied territories, and seven Kh-22 or Kh-32 cruise missiles launched from Russian airspace over Bryansk.

Russia also fired 28 Kh-101 cruise missiles or Iskander-K missiles from the Caspian Sea and Russia’s Kursk region, the air force said.

In addition, Russia deployed around 450 attack drones, including Shahed-type drones as well as Gerbera and Ilmas models, launched from several locations inside Russia, including Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Shatalovo, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. About 300 of the drones were Shahed-type, Ukrainian officials said.

The main targets of the attack were the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia and Odesa regions.

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 412 of the drones, the air force said. Despite the interceptions, 27 missiles and 31 drones struck 27 locations across the country. Falling debris from intercepted drones was recorded at 17 sites.

Ukrainian authorities said information on six missiles that may have reached their targets was still being clarified.

By Aghakazim Guliyev