Russia continues its daily air attack on Ukrainian cities far behind the frontlines. Central Ukraine came under an explosive drone attack, while a Black Sea coastal region
In the early hours of 23 September 2023, Russia launched 15 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 one-way attack drones targeting the central Ukrainian oblasts of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed 14 of the Shaheds.
The Air Force says the drones entered Ukraine’s air space from the southeastern direction and were launched from Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council Head Mykola Lukashuk reported on Telegram that 12 of the 14 downed Shahed drones were destroyed in the skies of his region. According to him, the drone debris crashed into a critical infrastructure facility, damaging it. Additionally, Russian shelling attacks also damaged ten detached homes, two gas stations, and a gas pipeline in the region, Lukashuk reported.
On the same night, Odesa Oblast came under a Russian missile attack as two P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles hit a “recreational area,” according to Natalia Humeniuk, head of the press center of the Southern Defense Forces.
“Two missiles hit a recreational area in Odesa Oblast, but this was an open space. There are no critical damage or injuries,” she said on the national telethon, according to Suspilne.
The air raid alert was declared at 00:41. Minutes later, the Air Force warned of a group of missiles moving toward Odesa Oblast. Odesa Oblast Head Oleh Kiper urged residents of the region’s western Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district to take cover and stay there until the alarm went off.
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