Ivano-Frankivsk was Russia's target in 18 April attack, Ukrainian Air Force reports

The Air Force reported that the city of Ivano-Frankivsk was the main target of the Russian Shahed drone attack on the night of 17-18 April. The Ukrainians managed to destroy all Russian drones.

Source: Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force; Ruslan Martsinkiv, the Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, on Facebook

Quote from Yevlash: "The enemy attacked using their standard routes, from Cape Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea, and from the territory of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, which is in the Russian Federation, from where the enemy directed their UAVs... They flew along standard routes – attempting to bypass various rugged terrain areas (along rivers, etc.)...

They attempted to bypass Ivano-Frankivsk and attack the city from different sides – north and south. They moved in a zigzag pattern to make it more difficult to target them. Throughout the air raid, they utilised both groups and individual drones, thus attempting to confuse their trail thoroughly. However, despite such tactics, our Defenсe Forces managed to destroy all 13 UAVs...

Unfortunately, Ivano-Frankivsk is one of the cities that suffered the most from the Russian Shahed drones."

Details: Martsinkiv added that over Prykarpattia, Ukrainian air defence destroyed several Russian targets, and there were no casualties due to the attack. He called the information from Russian propagandists about alleged hits in the city centre a lie. All targets were shot down, and the smoke was produced by falling wreckage.

The spokesperson also mentioned that one of the drones "hovered" over the water for several hours on the border between Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava oblasts. Martsinkiv explained that it's challenging for mobile air defence groups to reach such areas and destroy the target.

He said Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of air defence systems: "We need missiles that would effectively combat even cruise missiles for our portable anti-aircraft missile systems. However, this requires additional resources and equipment, including for mobile fire groups, which could effectively detect drones at night and hit them."

Background:

• The Russians attempted to strike critical infrastructure facilities in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. All Russian air targets were successfully destroyed, but the falling wreckage caused fires.

• The Russians launched 13 Shahed-131/136 strike UAVs at Ukraine overnight on 17-18 April, all of which were shot down by air defence forces.

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