Ukraine downs 92 of 151 air targets during Russian mass missile strike
A total of 92 out of 151 air targets were shot down overnight during Russia's largest combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine, with a particular focus on infrastructure and energy facilities, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported on Telegram on March 22.
Fifty-five Shahed drones, thirty-five Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, and two Kh-59 guided missiles were intercepted and destroyed by Ukrainian air defense.
The attack included:
· 63 Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia
Read also: Energy structure ablaze in Lviv Oblast after early morning Russian missile strike
· 12 Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Russia’s Belgorod Oblast and occupied Crimea
· 40 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles launched from 13 Tu-95MS strategic bombers
· 5 Kh-22 cruise missiles fired from a Tu-22M3 bomber
· 7 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles launched from 10 MiG-31Ks jets
Read also: Critical infrastructure hit in Vinnytsia in Russia’s latest mass missile barrage
· 2 Kh-59 guided missiles launched by a Su-30 jet
· 22 S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles fired from Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk oblasts.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled the mass attack with anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare systems, Oleshchuk explained.
At least seven buildings were destroyed and 35 damaged in the administrative center of Zaporizhzhya, which was targeted by 12 Russian missiles.
Read also: Casualties in Russia’s biggest attack of 2024: hydro, thermal, and nuclear stations in 8 regions hit
The enemy also hit Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power dam, the Dnipro HPP, hitting a passenger trolleybus with people on board, Mariupol mayoral advisor Petro Andriushchenko reported.
However, the integrity of the dam remains intact, assured Ukrainian hydropower operator Ukrhydroenergo on Telegram.
Fifteen airstrikes were carried out by Russia on Kryvyi Rih’s critical infrastructure, primarily targeting energy facilities.
“Critical infrastructure has been hit," Kryvyi Rih mayor Oleksandr Vilkul wrote on Telegram.
The city has implemented rolling blackouts, he added. Hospitals and other essential services are switching to generators where possible.
Civilian infrastructure and energy facilities were also hit in Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Odesa.
Commenting on the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian missiles do not have delays like Western aid packages to Ukraine, and the Shaheds kamikaze drones used by the Russia do not have indecision, unlike some politicians.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
