Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 33 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones during a Russian assault that began on the evening of 16 January and continued into the early hours of 17 January, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.
The attack involved two Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched from Russia’s Rostov Oblast and 50 attack drones, including Shahed-type UAVs and various decoy drones, launched from five directions: Millerovo, Orel, Bryansk, Kursk, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, the Air Force says. As Ukraine has downed 33 of the drones, nine Russian decoy drones disappeared from radars without negative consequences – possibly crashing, and another UAV left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Romania, as per the reports.
The figures mentioned in the Air Force report suggest that both Iskander missiles and at least seven drones might have reached their targets.
Ukrainian air defense units, electronic warfare systems, and mobile fire groups from the Air Force and Defense Forces engaged the incoming threats across eleven regions: Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts.
The Air Force reported that enemy drones struck “industrial facilities” in Odesa Oblast. Falling debris from intercepted drones also damaged institutional buildings, private enterprises, and households in Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and Kyiv oblasts.
In Kyiv Oblast, falling debris from an intercepted drone injured a 12-year-old boy in the Bucha district, the Regional Military Administration head Mykola Kalashnyk reported. The child was hospitalized with suspected concussion and a leg wound.
The State Emergency Service says drone debris caused a fire at a café with an attached boiler room, covering an area of approximately 200 square meters. The blast wave also damaged windows in a nearby house.
In Odesa Oblast, Russian drones targeted river port infrastructure in the Izmail district, Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper said on Telegram. The attack damaged building facades and a residential house, but no casualties were reported.
Romania’s Defense Ministry reported that their national airspace was breached during the overnight attack. NATO member Romania scrambled two fighter jets to monitor the situation, with a likely drone impact zone identified in the southeastern Tulcea county near the Ukrainian border.
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