Russia attacked Ukraine with hundreds of air targets: results of air defense work
Russian troops on October 16 carried out a massive air attack on Ukraine, using 315 strike drones and 15 high-speed S-8000 “Banderol/Dan-T” munitions. The air defense forces were able to neutralize most of the air targets, but the attack continued into the evening.
This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the military, from 07:00 to 19:00 the Russian army used 315 drones of various types, including 78 jet drones. In addition, the enemy launched 15 S-8000 “Banderol/Dan-T” munitions.
The attack involved drones of the Shahed type, “Gerbera” and devices of other modifications.
Results of air defense work
According to preliminary data from the Air Force, during the specified period Ukrainian air defense shot down or suppressed 253 Russian drones, including 49 jet apparatuses.
Also, nine of the 15 S-8000 “Banderol/Dan-T” munitions were neutralized.
Thus, out of 330 air targets used by Russian troops over 12 hours, Ukrainian air defense neutralized 262. This is about 79% of the total.
At the same time, neutralization includes both physical destruction of targets and their suppression by electronic warfare means.
The number of un-intercept targets cannot be automatically considered the number of hits. Some drones could still be in flight at the time the report was compiled.
In particular, as of 19:00 about 35 Russian strike drones remained in Ukrainian airspace. The Air Force warned that the attack was ongoing and urged citizens not to ignore air raid warnings.
Russia continues to use jet drones
A feature of the Russian attacks on October 16 was a significant number of jet strike drones and the use of S-8000 “Banderol/Dan-T” munitions.
Jet drones differ from conventional propeller-driven apparatuses in higher flight speed. This reduces the time available to air defense units for detecting, tracking and intercepting air targets.
In turn, the S-8000 “Banderol” belongs to high-speed strike means that Russia uses along with traditional strike drones and missiles.
In recent days, Russian troops have repeatedly used such munitions for attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Massive attacks continue overnight
The new daytime report appeared after a large-scale night attack on Ukraine.
On the morning of October 16, the Air Force reported that since 18:00 the previous day, the Russian army launched 149 strike drones, of which 108 were jet.
As of 09:30, air defense forces neutralized 114 apparatuses, including 77 jet drones.
At that time, the military recorded hits of 27 air attack assets in 24 locations. In another 14 locations, the fall of shot-down drones or their debris was detected.
Morning and daytime figures should not be summed up, because the observation periods partially overlap. Daytime statistics cover the time from 07:00 to 19:00, and morning statistics — from the evening of October 15 to 09:30 the next day.
During October 16, Russian strikes were also accompanied by disruptions in electricity supply in a number of Ukrainian regions. Ukrenergo reported emergency outages caused by damage to energy infrastructure.
The final consequences of the daytime attack, including the number of hits and the scale of destruction, at the time of publication of the Air Force report were still being clarified.
Based on materials: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — daytime report, Ukrinform — morning report, Ukrenergo.