Change of attack strategy: Russia launches 50 Shahed drones overnight, fewer than half shot down
On the second-last night of the year, Ukrainian defenders shot down 21 of the 49 attack drones launched by Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine.
Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram; Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, during the national joint 24/7 newscast; Defence Forces of Ukraine's South
Quote: "On the night of 30-31 December 2023, the Russian invaders attacked with Shahed-type attack UAVs from three directions: Cape Chauda (Crimea), and Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsky district and Kursk Oblast.
In total, 49 enemy Shahed-136/131 drones were recorded. The enemy also struck the city of Kharkiv with six S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.
The enemy directed most of the attack drones along the front line of defence and on civilian, military and infrastructure facilities in frontline territories, particularly Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Units of mobile fire groups from the Defence Forces and fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force destroyed 21 enemy Shahed drones in various regions of Ukraine."
Details: Yurii Ihnat explained that most of the kamikaze drones had targeted the frontline area that night, not Ukraine's interior. This is a "change in attack strategy", as it is rather difficult to destroy Shaheds at close range, he explained.
"That's why 21 downed Shaheds is also a good result since those drones that came from three directions and managed to reach central (Ukraine) were destroyed," Ihnat said.
He added that Russia has launched about 3,800 kamikaze UAVs into Ukraine since September 2022, with the Ukrainian Defence Forces shooting down about 3,000 during the full-scale war.
Defence Forces in Ukraine's South reported that the UAV attack lasted for 7 hours, with 1 Shahed destroyed over Mykolaiv Oblast and 6 in Odesa Oblast. Their wreckage crashed in the coastal zone of Odesa Oblast, whereas private homes were damaged by drone strikes in Kherson Oblast.
Ihnat also added that the Russians had fired six S-300 missiles on Kharkiv on Saturday night [30-31 December], hitting a hotel and other civilian targets.
He mentioned that Kh-59 missiles had been destroyed in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast earlier.
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