Destroyed missiles also pose a threat: Ukraine's Air Force explains what happened in Odesa Oblast

Several waves of Russian missile attacks on 17 and 18 May resulted in only one hit – a Kh-101/Kh-555 missile in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, while other reports of destruction were related to damage from shot down targets [missiles] that fell to the ground.

Source: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Spokesperson for the Air Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Details: 29 out of 30 cruise missiles targeting different oblasts of Ukraine were shot down.

At the same time, as Ihnat explains, downed missiles cannot evaporate in the air; they or their fragments inevitably fall to the ground.

This is the case with the alleged hit in Odesa Oblast. The officer stated that a missile downed by Ukrainian air defence fell on a certain facility, causing destruction, killing one person and injuring several others.

Therefore, the Air Force spokesperson once again emphasised that when an air-raid warning is issued, it is necessary to follow safety measures and stay in the shelter.

Because the warheads of Ukrainian air defence missiles and destroyed Russian air targets [drones and missiles] inevitably fall to the ground.

Quote: "An anti-aircraft missile hits a cruise missile (it doesn't have to be head-on), it explodes nearby, and the hit cruise missile may or may not explode in the air.

The situation is the same with the Shahed drone, which can be hit and no longer fly to its target; it is not a ‘strike’, so when it is hit, it flies down and explodes...

We are emphasising that even the successful work of our air defence forces is also dangerous for citizens, so you need to stay in a shelter and take care of your families."

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