Russia launch 55 missiles and 21 Shahed drones: Ukraine's air defence downs 59 targets

Iryna Balachuk — Wednesday, 8 May 2024, 08:42

Air defence. Stock photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 55 missiles of various types and 21 attack drones on the night of 7-8 May. Ukraine’s air defence has successfully destroyed 59 Russian aerial targets.

Source: Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of Ukraine's Air Force,

Quote: "Russian occupiers launched a combined strike using missiles of various types and attack drones on the night of 7-8 May 2024. In total, the enemy deployed 76 means of air attack, including 55 missiles and 21 drones."

Details: The Russians launched the following targets:

1 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missile (launched from Russia’s Tambov Oblast);
2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles (from occupied Crimea);
4 Kalibr cruise missiles (from the Black Sea);
45 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers (from Russia’s Saratov Oblast and Caspian Sea);
1 Iskander-K cruise missile (from Crimea);
2 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles (from occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast);
21 Shahed-131/136 attack UAVs (from Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Kursk Oblast).

Oleshchuk noted that the air defence forces managed to destroy 33 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, 4 Kalibr cruise missiles, 2 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles and 20 Shahed drones.

"Air Force fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft missile forces as well as mobile fire groups and electronic warfare units from Ukraine’s Defence Forces were engaged in repelling the air attack," Oleshchuk summarised.

Background:

Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine on the night of 7-8 May. An air-raid warning was issued in all Ukrainian oblasts.
No hits or casualties were recorded in the city of Kyiv. Air defence systems destroyed all aerial targets in the vicinity of the capital.
The Russians attacked power generation and transmission facilities in six Ukrainian oblasts. The oblasts of Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia came under Russian fire. The Russians hit three thermal power plants owned by DTEK, causing serious damage to their equipment.
A fire broke out at a civilian infrastructure facility in the city of Brovary in Kyiv Oblast, while hits were recorded in Vinnytsia Oblast due to the Russian missile attack.
Russian forces damaged a critical infrastructure facility, 13 residential buildings and dozens of garages in Kirovohrad Oblast during a nighttime missile attack, injuring a child. Strikes were also recorded in Poltava Oblast.

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