Air Force shoots down 16 Shahed drones over Ukraine at night

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 16 kamikaze drones that were attacking Ukraine from the south-eastern and northern fronts on the night of 29-30 December. 

Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Quote: "The enemy attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones on the night of 29-30 December. 

In total, 16 Shahed drones, attacking Ukraine from the south-eastern and northern fronts, were launched. In order to get past Ukraine’s air defence systems, the enemy was trying to use the estuary of the Dnipro River. 

Forces and means of Air Commands Skhid (East) and Tsentr (Centre), as well as air defence units of other parts of the Ukrainian defence forces, destroyed all 16 kamikaze drones."

Background: Air Command Skhid (East) previously reported that 10 drones had been shot down: "Aircraft and anti-aircraft missile units from Air Force Command Skhid (East), in cooperation with the Ukrainian Army’s Air Defence Forces, destroyed 9 Shahed-type UAVs and 1 Marlin in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts overnight."

Vitalii Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, reported that seven kamikaze drones were heading for Kyiv, with two of them being destroyed near the capital, and other five over Kyiv. 

The defenders of the skies also destroyed all five Shahed drones over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast - they have achieved the same result for the second night in a row. 

On the night of 29 December, the Russians attacked Kharkiv's energy infrastructure with 13 Shaheds, 11 of which were shot down by units of the Defence Forces. All 5 Shahed drones were shot down in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

In addition, on the morning of 29 December, Russia carried out a massive attack with cruise missiles, and air defence forces were operating throughout Ukraine, but there were also several hits on energy facilities.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Defence Forces of Ukraine destroyed 58 cruise missiles and 23 unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day.

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