Ukraine repels Russia’s attack involving 50 drones, 4 missiles; two UAVs again breach Romania airspace

Ukraine’s Air Force reports the Russian nighttime air attack, involving 50 Shahed-type drones and unidentified UAVs launched from Russia’s Orel and Kursk oblasts, and from occupied Crimea, alongside two Kh-22 cruise missiles fired from Tu-22M3 aircraft over the Black Sea and two Kh-59 guided missiles launched from Bryansk Oblast airspace.

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.

According to the report, Ukrainian air defenses operated across eleven regions: Odesa, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, and Chernihiv oblasts. Beyond the 40 drones shot down, seven were “locationally lost” – meaning crashed, one remained in Ukrainian airspace as of the time of the reporting, and two turned back toward Russia and Belarus. The Russian missiles reportedly failed to reach their targets.

The overnight attack began around 21:00 on 23 October, with air raid alerts continuing through the night. The Air Force and airspace monitoring channels reported multiple drone movements, including groups heading toward Starokostiantyniv, hosting a Ukrainian bomber base, Odesa Oblast, and various other regions across Ukraine, with air defenses actively engaging the threats throughout the operation.

Kyiv and Khmelnytskyi under attack

In Kyiv City, this marked the fourteenth air attack on the capital since the beginning of October, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.

“Air raid alerts in the capital were announced three times and lasted almost 6 hours in total. Air defense forces detected about ten Russian drones in the airspace around Kyiv. All enemy UAVs threatening the capital were neutralized,” the Administration wrote.

Kyiv Oblast saw two air raid alerts last night, lasting about nine hours. Falling debris from intercepted drones damaged windows at two enterprises and a transformer unit, Kyiv Oblast Military Administration head Ruslan Kravchenko said. No critical or residential infrastructure was hit, and no casualties were reported.

In Khmelnytskyi Oblast, air defenses shot down eight Shahed drones, but the attack resulted in damage to a residential apartment building, a hotel roof, and a non-residential building, according to Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration head Serhii Tiurin. One person sustained minor injuries, and blast waves damaged windows at a local library, Tiurin added.

Romania airspace breached again

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Romania’s defense ministry announced late on 23 October that its radar systems detected two separate signals, likely from drones, breaching its national airspace.

The incidents occurred in the southeastern counties of Constanța and Tulcea, with F-16 fighter jets unable to make visual contact with the objects before radar lost their signals. This marks the third such incident in less than a week for the NATO member state.

The previous reported breach of the Romanian airspace occurred on 19 October.

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