Air Force: a missile and 50 out of 69 “Shaheds” were destroyed, 16 were lost, a drone was spotted crossing the border with Belarus, and another returned “home”
Kyiv • UNN
August 21 2024, 08:45 AM • 13564 views
The Ukrainian Air Force repelled a large-scale attack by Russian drones and missiles. They shot down 50 of 69 Shahed attack UAVs
and one of three missiles, and lost 16 more drones in the area.
Since nightfall, 50 out of 69 Shahed attack drones and one missile out of three launched by Russian troops have been shot down in the skies over Ukraine, 16 more enemy drones have been locally lost, an enemy drone was spotted crossing the border with Belarus, and another Russian UAV returned to its "homeland" in the Belgorod region, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, said on Wednesday, UNN reports.
Details
On the night of August 21, according to Oleshchuk, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from the Voronezh region, an X-59/X-69 guided missile from the airspace of the Kursk region, and 69 Shahed attack UAVs (launch areas: Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Yeysk, Kursk - Russian Federation).
According to the AFU Air Force Commander, a total of 72 air targets were detected and escorted by the AFU Air Force radio technical units.
The enemy's air attack, he said, was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units of the Air Force and calculations of mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
As a result of the air combat, 51 air targets were shot down: one X-59/X-69 guided missile and 50 Shahed-131/136 strike UAVs in Khmelnytskyi, Poltava, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Donetsk, Kirovohrad, Sumy and Chernihiv regions
"Another 16 enemy UAVs were lost in the area - presumably, they fell under the influence of electronic countermeasures. The information is being clarified," said the Ukrainian Air Force commander.
In addition, he said, "an enemy attack drone crossed the state border with the Republic of Belarus in Chernihiv region, and another Russian UAV returned to its ‘homeland’ in Belgorod region.
"As of 11.15 a.m., one enemy UAV is in the airspace in Cherkasy region. Combat work continues," said Oleshchuk.