Ukraine said Wednesday that its air defenses, using anti-aircraft missile stockpiles recently replenished by allies including the United States, shot down 29 of the 30 missiles and explosive drones fired at it by Russia in an overnight barrage, one of Ukraine’s best interception rates so far during the war.
In Kiev, authorities said they had shot down a volley of missiles aimed at the capital and an exploding drone as they approached or flew over the city. An aerial duel between Western-supplied air defense systems and Russian missiles unfolded over the city just before 3 a.m.
Earlier this year, Ukraine was running dangerously low on air defense munitions, with commanders of some batteries saying missiles were being rationed, allowing Russian missiles to fly in unimpeded. Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at a meeting on economic aid for Ukraine that the country’s military needed more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.
The Biden administration has decided to provide Ukraine with one more Patriot system, which consists of launchers, a stockpile of missiles and a powerful radar antenna to detect targets. Other countries are also considering transferring Patriot launchers to Ukraine. Germany is arranging a donation of 100 missiles from its own stockpiles and those of Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, with 32 having been delivered so far, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said this week.
Flashes of light lit up the sky and explosions rang out as Wednesday’s attack continued, and one civilian was injured by falling shrapnel, authorities said.
“The enemy has launched a new missile attack on the capital,” Kiev’s military administrator said in a post on the social networking site Telegram. Typical of recent Russian attacks, the attack combined multiple types of weapons, including drones and cruise missiles, a tactic aimed at overwhelming Ukraine’s air defenses.
The cruise missiles, fired from bombers flying in Russian airspace, were timed to reach Kiev at the same time as a volley of Iranian-made Shahed explosive drones. Throughout the attack, Russia also fired three ballistic missiles: one Iskander ground-launched medium-range ballistic missile and two Kinzhal (Dagger) air-launched missiles, which travel at hypersonic speeds and are launched from aircraft, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukrainian and Western officials have said the only defense against Dagger missiles is Patriot interceptor missiles.
The Ukrainian Air Force, in a statement that could not be independently verified, said it had shot down five of the six missiles and all 24 of the Shahed drones.
Ukraine’s drone and missile interception rates fell in the first few months of the year compared to last year as its air defense forces ran out of munitions and Russia adopted tactics to circumvent existing defenses.
Ukrainian air force data shows that the drone shootdown rate was about 80% in the 12 months through April, and missile interception rates have fallen to below 50% in some months this year, the data shows.
In neighbouring Poland, the military said it had scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace while Russian missiles were flying over Ukraine.
In Kiev on Wednesday, one civilian was injured in the leg by falling debris, the city’s military administrator, Ruslan Kravchenko, said in a separate Telegram post. Fragments from the falling missile also started two fires.
Interceptor debris – sometimes small silvery metal fragments, sometimes heavy rocket engines – rains down on Kiev after such exchanges, often causing injuries. The debris comes from both the interceptor missiles and the incoming Russian missiles.
Russia has targeted power plants in recent attacks that have destroyed about half of Ukraine’s generating capacity so far this month, prompting the government to introduce nationwide rolling blackouts.
Natalia Novosorova contributed reporting.
