This past Thursday (7/6/23) the Ukrainian Air Force successfully shot down 12 out of 18 Iranian-made (Shahed-136/131) kamikaze drones. The operation took place with Russian occupation forces deploying drones from the southeast, specifically Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and from Krasnodar Krai in the Russian Federation. The Ukraine Air Force, equipped with fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, and a mobile fire group, stopped the aerial assault.
The sudden attack by Russian occupation forces caught the Ukrainian military off guard. The 18 Shahed drones that were launched posed a serious threat to Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions. However, Ukrainian Air Force swiftly mobilized its air defense units and initiated a robust countermeasure operation.
Before this incident, the Ukrainian Military reported a similar attack by the Russians. Overnight on July 6th-7th, the Russians targeted Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with 6 Shahid drones, which defenders from Air Force Command Skhid subsequently shot down. Tragically, two innocent lives were lost when the drone’s wreckage fell on a car. It was later revealed that a total of 18 Iranian-made Shahed drones were launched by Russia, originating from the northern Bryansk region and the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov in the South. The Ukrainian Air Defence successfully intercepted all 18 drones, preventing further damage and casualties.
The repercussions of the drone attack were not limited to a single region. In the southern city of Odesa, three drones struck dormitories, igniting fires. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. The military command South, sharing updates on Facebook, reported that 12 drones were shot down in Odesa. Moreover, in Kyiv, the capital city, the Air Defense system successfully intercepted all loitering munitions and missiles deployed by the hostile forces.
Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and was created by Idmental.
