Ukraine Downs Drones, Missiles in Overnight Russian Attack

Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched six cruise missiles and 22 Iranian attack drones against targets in the country overnight, the Kyiv Independent reported. Air defenses from Ukraine’s southern, western, and central air commands knocked out 16 drones and three missiles.

The assault continued a spate of recent overnight barrages from Russia - the tenth such assault this month. The latest salvos came from the north and south-east in the form of Iranian Shahed-136/131 drones and Kalibr cruise missiles launched from Russian warships on the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a post on Telegram. There were no immediate damage assessments. 

On Thursday, Kyiv, the capital, and other locations were targeted with a barrage of 30 Russian cruise missiles.

As The Messenger reported Thursday, Ukrainian air defenses have become increasingly adept at shooting incoming Russian missiles out of the sky. Ukrainian officials and outside analysts say Ukraine now typically knocks out more than 90 percent of these missiles, including hypersonic weapons that are intended to evade air defenses.