Air defense shoot down one out of two missiles, only 16 out of 47 enemy drones at night; occupiers mainly targeting frontline communities – Air Force

The Russian occupiers first attacked with drones on Saturday night, mainly targeting frontline communities, Ukrainian air defense shot down and suppressed one Iskander-K cruise missile and 16 enemy Shahed UAVs and simulator drones of various types, the telegram channel of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

It is reported that the enemy attacked Ukraine at night with a total of 47 strike drones on frontline territories of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and with two missiles – the city of Dnipro. The air attack was repelled by anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

"Some 31 UAVs were hit at 15 locations," the force said.

Thus, 34% (16 out of 47) of downed drones was the lowest indicator of the effectiveness of air defense systems against Russian drones since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Before that, the lowest indicator for a long time was the shooting down of 44 out of 91 drones on the night of October 26, 2024, that is, about 48%. Typically, 75% to 90% of the drones launched by the enemy during the night were reported to have been shot down, in particular, on the night of August 8, 76% (79 out of 104), on the night of August 7, 79% (89 out of 112), and on the night of August 6, 80% (36 out of 45).

However, in recent days, the enemy has mainly launched drones at rear targets far from the line of combat contact, and on the night of August 9, the occupiers have mainly targeted objects in front-line territories, which limited the capabilities of the air defense.

Meanwhile, 47 drones launched by the enemy are one of the lowest figures per day in the last six months.