Overnight on 29 December, Russia launched what Ukraine’s Air Force called “the most massive air attack” against Ukraine, employing 158 missiles and suicide drones, targeting numerous cities all across the country. Ukrainian air defenders destroyed 114 air assets during the attack, according to the Air Force’s report.
“Last night, the enemy launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. Critical infrastructure, industrial and military facilities were attacked. Unfortunately, there are [civilian] fatalities and the wounded,” the Air Force wrote.
According to the Air Force, the timeline of the air attack was as follows:
- The attack started with several waves of Iranian-made Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 explosive drones, with a total of 36 drones spotted, launched from the north and southeast, and then moving to western Ukraine.
- At around 3 a.m., 18 Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers took off and reached the launch position at around 6 a.m., firing 90 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-launched cruise missiles.
- At around 05 a.m., Russia’s Tu-22M3 long-range bombers launched eight Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles from Kursk Oblast towards Ukraine’s northern and central regions.
- At the same time, Russians attacked Kharkiv City with S-300 surface-to-air missiles, using them in their secondary ground-attack role. A total of 14 ballistic missiles – S-300/S-400/Iskander – targeted various regions of Ukraine, fired from occupied Crimea, and Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions.
- At 6:20 a.m., five Russian MiG-31K fighter jets took off and launched five Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from Russia’s Astrakhan region.
- Also, Russia’s Su-35 tactical bombers launched four Kh-31P supersonic anti-radiation missiles and one Kh-59 cruise missile.
According to the Air Force’s preliminary data, Russians used 158 means of air attack against Ukraine last night, while Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 114 of those:
- 87 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles.
- 27 Shahed-136/131 one-way attack UAVs