Ukraine downs 16 out of 17 Russian kamikaze drones, reconnaissance UAVs
During Russia’s attack on Ukraine overnight on Friday, Ukrainian air defences took down a number of Iranian-made kamikaze drones and reconnaissance UAVs, Ukraine’s Air Force Command said in a statement.
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Until 4:00am Friday, Russia attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones from the southeast direction, with Ukrainian air defences having taken down 16 out of 17 UAVs in the southern and eastern regions.
In addition, Ukrainian air defence shot down one reconnaissance UAV, and six more operational and tactical level drones had been destroyed over the past day.
Anti-aircraft missile units, fighter aircraft, mobile firing groups of the Air Force and air defence of other components of the Ukrainian defence forces were involved.
In addition, over the past day, the Air Force aviation carried out up to 20 group strikes against the Russian forces.
Russia has been using drone and missile strikes in an attempt to exhaust Ukrainian air defences, which have so far prevented it from deploying relatively intact aviation on a wider scale.
The Ukrainians, however, have bolstered up their air defences with modern Western capabilities.