Russian missiles and drones target Odesa and Kramatorsk in nighttime aerial assault
On the morning of 31 October, Ukraine’s Air Force reported successfully repelling a significant Russian aerial attack involving multiple missile and drone strikes across nine Ukrainian oblasts.
Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas in attempts to terrorize civilians and damage civilian infrastructure. The Russian forces launch dozens of Shahed long-range “kamikaze” drones – usually Iranian-designed Shahed 131 or 136 – every night, often also launching several missiles during the attack.
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed shooting down 17 enemy drones and 2 guided aviation missiles during an extensive overnight operation. The attack originated from multiple directions, including occupied Crimea and Russia’s Rostov Oblast.
According to the Air Force report, the Russians launched two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from Crimea targeting the bridge over the Dnister Estuary in Zatoka, Odesa Oblast. Additionally, eight guided aviation Kh-59/69 missiles were fired from tactical aviation aircraft over the Black Sea region.
Another two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles were launched from Rostov Oblast towards Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast. From Kursk and Orel directions in Russia, Russians deployed 43 attack drones, including Shaheds and unidentified drone types.
Ukraine’s air defense, comprising anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups, responded across Odesa, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Poltava oblasts.
By 08:00, the Air Force confirmed destroying two guided Kh-59/69 missiles over Odesa. Seventeen Russian drones were shot down, with 23 drones “locationally lost” – meaning crashed – and three Russian drones exited controlled airspace towards Russia or occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Air Forces statistics implies that none of the Russian drones reached their intended targets, while only two of 12 missiles were downed.
Ukraine’s Air Force doesn’t include in its air defense activities Russia’s guided bomb strikes, because Ukraine doesn’t have means to shoot such bombs down. Meanwhile, yesterday evening Russia’s bomb strike on a Kharkiv residential high-rise killed at least three people, including two children, and injured 34 other civilians.
The body of a 15-year-old was recovered from the rubble of a residential building in Kharkiv, raising the death toll from Russia's KAB bomb attack to three, Suspilne reported.
Earlier, rescuers found the bodies of an unidentified man and a 12-year-old boy.
As of this morning,… pic.twitter.com/rBcsIDVjaM
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 31, 2024
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