Russia Launches Single Largest Drone Attack Of Ukraine War Saturday
While much of the globe's attention remains fixated on Gaza, and the uneasy truce and hostage deal now unfolding, Ukraine on Saturday said that Russia launched its largest drone attack on the country since the war's start.
"A total of nearly 75 Shahed drones were launched from two directions – Primorsko-Akhtarsk and the Kursk region, Russia. The primary target was the city of Kyiv," a Ukrainian Air Force statement on Telegram announced. It underscored this marked a "record number" of drones for a single wave of attack.
The air force statement went on to claim that a whopping 71 of these Iranian-made suicide drones were intercepted, mostly over the Kyiv region, describing that "Anti-aircraft missile troops, tactical aviation, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare units were involved in repelling the air attack."
Ukraine's military also said its air defenses shot down a Kh-59 guided missile in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russian forces typically launch a mix of small drones and missiles in these attacks, which have become somewhat regular since the war's sart.
Reportedly some of the falling intercepted drone wreckage fell on and damaged residential buildings. At least two Ukrainians were injured in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, where there were several fires as a result of the attack.
Newsweek reports based on Ukrainian official statements that "At least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, were injured by falling drone debris in the capital."
A Kyiv city administration statement counted that this was the fourth drone attack on the capital this month, at a moment the front lines in the east and south have been stalled. By all accounts Russia has dug in and solidified is hold over much of the four annexed territories.
Saturday's massive drone operation appears a direct response to Ukraine sending over a dozen drones against Crimea in the two days prior...
Russia Claims to Foil Major Ukrainian Attack on Crimea
— Kyle Anzalone (@KyleAnzalone_) November 24, 2023
The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing over a dozen drones targeting the peninsula
Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks targeting the Crimean Peninsula since Russia invaded the country last year. The… pic.twitter.com/dqHUKG5jPx
For this reason, after what's been a clearly failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, there have been new reports of quiet efforts of the West to finally push the Zelensky government to the negotiating table with Russia. Ukraine is reportedly suffering a huge manpower shortage, evident in increasingly older men being conscripted and sent to the front.