During the night of 18 May, Russia launched 13 Shahed-136/131 drones towards Ukraine. The Ukrainian military successfully shot down all of them, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported.
“All 13 Shahed drones were shot down by air defense missile units, mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defense Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts,” Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.
He added that the shaheds arrived from the Russian cities of Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Krasnodar Krai.
Despite the shootdowns, Ukraine’s energy company Ukrenergo confirmed two energy infrastructure facilities were struck during the night drone attack, though no casualties occurred.
Poltava Regional Military Administration Head Philip Pronin specified energy infrastructure was damaged in one Poltava Oblast’s district, but consumers maintained electricity as emergency restoration efforts are underway.
Read more:
- Updated: Russian attacks on Kharkiv and Odesa kill four, injure 36
- Russian strikes, cold weather trigger emergency power cuts amid shortages in Ukraine
- Russian strikes leave Ukrainian civilians in eight regions without electricity
- ISW: Russia attacks Ukraine’s energy system to undermine defense industry
