Military expert Valerii Riabykh, the head of the Defense Express consulting company, noted that the air defense capabilities in Ukraine’s major cities have effectively increased, according to Espreso.

Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Since October 2022, it has systematically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with increased missile and drone assaults, aiming to disrupt civilian life, compared to previous months.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces have significantly increased their capability to intercept ballistic and hypersonic missiles. In October, only 8% of such missiles were intercepted by our air defense system, but in November, this number exceeded 40%,” said Riabykh.

He said Ukraine’s partners fulfilled their commitments by providing additional air defense systems such as Patriot, SAMP/T, NASAMS, IRIS-T, and the Hawk MANPADS.

The military expert added that air defense capabilities in large cities, not only in Kyiv, are growing stronger in countering complex aerial threats from Russia.

“This fact explains the increased interception rate of Russian ballistic and hypersonic missiles,” emphasized Riabykh.

Overnight into 9 December, Russian forces launched 37 drones against Ukraine, targeting multiple oblasts and causing infrastructure damage. The Ukrainian air defense intercepted 18 Russian drones across nine oblasts.

The Air Force reported that during the drone attack, the falling of shot-down drones damaged the infrastructure of several private companies in Vinnytsia Oblast.

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