In the early hours of 29 August, Ukraine successfully repelled a large-scale Russian air assault, downing 62 out of 79 UAVs and missiles, including 60 Shahed drones. The rest of the drones and at least one missile reportedly crashed without reaching their targets. Meanwhile, Belarus, a Russian ally, had to destroy a Russian Shahed that breached its airspace.
The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, reported on Telegram that Russian forces launched the attack using:
- 3 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles and two other missiles of an unidentified type from the airspace of Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts,
- 74 Shahed-131/136 one-way attack UAVs from the areas of Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Kursk, and Yeysk.
Oleshchuk stated,
“As a result of the air battle, two guided aircraft missiles Kh-59/69 and 60 strike UAVs ‘Shahed-131/136’ were shot down. Another 14 strike UAVs were locationally lost (fell) on the territory of Ukraine.”
The wording “locationally lost” in the Ukrainian air defender lingo means that a target disappeared from radars before reaching a possible target, most probably just crashing somewhere on its way.
Local authorities reported no civilian casualties linked to the air assault.
In the regions
The Ukrainian air defense systems were active in Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Sumy, and Donetsk oblasts, according to Oleshchuk.
Regional administrations provided further details on the overnight attacks.
In Kharkiv Oblast, a missile, believed to be a Kh-59, struck in the Nova Vodolaha Territorial Hromada, causing a fire over a 200-square-meter area.
In Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that air raid alerts were issued twice, lasting almost 6 hours in total. He noted, there were about 15 drones in total, and added,
“None of the enemy’s strike drones reached their target!”
Ihor Taburets, head of the Cherkasy Oblast Military Administration, confirmed that eight Shaheds were destroyed within the oblast without consequences. However, he mentioned a few hits, including one on a private enterprise in the regional center, where a fire was promptly extinguished.
Minsk deploys fighter jet against Russian Shahed
Belarus reportedly deployed a fighter jet to intercept a stray Russian Shahed drone that entered its airspace during last night’s assault. Last night, the Ukrainian airspace monitoring channels confirmed that one of the Russian Shaheds entered Belarus from the south.
According to the Belarusian opposition Telegram channel “Belaruski Hajun,” the incident occurred at 03:30 in the Yelsk district. The channel reported,
“A fighter jet of the Belarusian Air Force chased the intruder for about 20 minutes, and around 03:55 in the Yelsk district of Gomel region, at least 2 explosions were heard and a bright flash was observed in the sky.”
According to the channel, this marks the first recorded instance of a Belarusian Air Force fighter attempting to destroy a real military target in the sky – a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone.
Related:
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- Ukraine repels Russia’s drone assault, downing 14 Shahed UAVs
- Ternopil industrial site struck; Ukraine intercepts most Russian drones and missiles during night attack
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