In the early hours of 22 March 2024, Russia launched a coordinated missile and drone strike on critical infrastructure targets in Ukraine, employing 151 attack assets. Ukrainian air defense forces successfully destroyed 92 aerial targets, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
On 22 March, Russian forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, using drones, ballistic, and cruise missiles. Explosions were reported in cities including Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Kropyvnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts. The strikes targeted energy facilities, resulting in casualties, injuries, and disruptions to water and electricity supplies. The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost connection to one power line, and the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant was severely damaged by hits.
According to the military, the Russians used:
- 63 Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs (launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia);
- 12 Iskander-M ballistic missiles (launched from Belgorod Oblast, Russia, and occupied Crimea);
- 40 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from 13 Tu-95MS strategic bombers (from Caspian Sea);
- 5 Kh-22 cruise missiles from five Tu-22M3 bombers (from Rostov Oblast, Russia);
- 7 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from ten MiG-31Ks (from Tambov Oblast, Russia);
- 2 Kh-59 guided missiles from two Su-30/Su-34 aircraft from the occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia Oblast;
- 22 S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles (from Belgorod and Kursk oblasts of the Russian Federation).
The missile and air strike defense involved anti-aircraft missile units from Ukraine’s Air Force and Ground Forces, as well as mobile fire groups and electronic warfare assets of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
The Air Force says the air defenders destroyed 92 air targets out of 151:
- 55 Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs;
- 35 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles;
- 2 Kh-59 guided missiles.
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