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Ukraine repels massive Russian drone attack, shoots down 78 Shaheds

Russia launched 105 Shahed drones against Ukraine overnight on 3 October. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 78 drones across 15 oblasts. Reports suggest three drones could have reached targets.

byYuri Zoria

03/10/2024

2 minute read

three-day search fails locate russian drone poland nato skeptical joint interceptions ukraine shahed-136 skies over kyiv october 2022 milinua 68964defbb6690eb

Shahed-136 drone in the skies over Kyiv, October 2022. Photo: mil.in.ua

Ukraine repels massive Russian drone attack, shoots down 78 Shaheds

Ukraine’s air defense forces successfully repelled a massive Russian drone attack in the early hours of 3 October, according to reports from the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Kyiv City Military Administration.

Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas in attempts to terrorize civilians and damage civilian infrastructure. The Russian forces launch dozens of Shahed long-range “kamikaze” drones every night, often also launching several missiles during the attack. Recently, the Russians also intensified the guided bomb strikes, targeting residential neighborhoods of Ukrainian cities.

The Air Force reported that Russia launched a total of 105 Shahed-136/131 one-way attack drones from various locations, including Oryol, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Kursk in Russia, and Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea. Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down 78 Russian drones across 15 oblasts, including Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kherson, Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Rivne, and Ivano-Frankivsk.

Additionally, one Shahed flew towards Belarus, and 23 were “locationally lost” in various regions “presumably as a result of active electronic warfare countermeasures,” as per the Air Force, which suggests that only three Shaheds could have reached their targets.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said that the air raid alert in the capital lasted for five and a half hours. Air defense systems detected and intercepted approximately 15 attack drones around and over Kyiv. Debris from the downed drones was reported in the Desnyanskyi district of the city, but no significant damage or casualties were reported.

According to the military administration, the Russian tactics remained unchanged, with drones approaching the city from various directions and altitudes, attacking in different group sizes. The first groups of drones arrived before midnight, with additional waves continuing throughout the night.

The Kyiv City Military Administration emphasized that despite the intensity of the attack, none of the drones achieved their intended targets in the capital.

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