Defense forces destroy 15 missiles, 14 drones, Tu-22M3 bomber last night
Last night, the Ukrainian defense forces destroyed 36 air targets, including 15 missiles, 14 Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones, and a Tu-22M3 strategic bomber, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk has said on Friday morning.
"On the night of April 19, 2024, the Russian occupiers launched a combined attack with missiles of various types and attack drones. In total, the enemy used 36 air attack weapons: 22 missiles of various types and 14 attack drones," he said on the Telegram channel.
The enemy launched two Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95 MS strategic aircraft, the launch area was Ryazan, Russian Federation, 14 Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones, launched from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Kursk regions, twelve guided aircraft missiles Kh-59/Kh-69, launched from the Kursk region and the Sea of Azov, two Iskander-K cruise missiles from Crimea, six Kh-22 cruise missiles from long-range strategic bombers Tu-22M3, launched from the Black and Azov Seas.
To repel an enemy air attack, anti-aircraft missile forces of the Air Force, mobile fire groups and electronic warfare units of the Ukrainian defense forces were involved.
In total, as a result of the anti-aircraft battle, 29 air targets were destroyed: two Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, 14 Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones, eleven Kh-59/Kh-69 guided aircraft missiles, and two Kh-22 cruise missiles.
Oleschuk noted that for the first time a long-range strategic bomber Tu-22M3 was destroyed by Ukrainian forces.
"For the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, destroyed a long-range strategic bomber Tu-22M3, a carrier of Kh-22 cruise missiles, which Russian terrorists use to attack peaceful Ukrainian cities. During today's attack, two such missiles were destroyed for the first time," he said.