AFU destroy 60 of 76 missiles fired by Russia during massive attack on Ukraine

The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported this on Telegram. 

The report says that on the morning of December 16, the Russian enemy fired 76 missiles at critical infrastructure facilities of Ukraine from the Caspian and Black Sea regions. Of them, 72 were cruise missiles and 4 were guided air missiles.

The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces destroyed 60 of the 76 missiles that flew into the territory of Ukraine.

“Rocket terror and the enemy's daring attempts to break through Kyiv's anti-aircraft defenses will not force us to lay down our arms,” ​​the report said.

The Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces clarified that the Russian troops launched sea-based cruise missiles from the Admiral Makarov frigate from the waters of the Black Sea. Also, several launches of cruise missiles were carried out by Tu-22M3 long-range bombers over the waters of the Sea of ​​Azov.

They also added that four launches of Kh-59 and Kh-31P guided air missiles were recorded from the Russian forces' tactical aircraft, presumably Su-35.

The Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces noted that during the massive shelling in the sky of Belarus, an Il-76 A-50U long-range radar detection aircraft was spotted. MiG-31K, a carrier of Kinzhal missiles, also patrolled there.

“The peculiarity of the current attack was the launch of Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles not only from the Caspian Sea, but also from the Saratov region, in the Engels area, where Tu-95MS strategic bombers are based,” the report said.

In addition, it was noted that during the attack, the Russian troops struck about 27 frontline cities with anti-aircraft missiles from the S-300 air defense system.

Earlier, the Vinnytsia City Council reported on the shelling with reference to OC South. 

“During a massive missile attack in the sky over Vinnytsia, six enemy missiles were destroyed,” the report said.

Prior to this, the spokesman of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Mykhailo Shamanov, noted on the air of the telethon that 40 missiles were recorded over Kyiv on Friday, December 16. 37 of them were shot down by the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces.

“Currently, it is known that more than 40 missiles were recorded near Kyiv, and 37 have already been destroyed. According to our calculations, this is one of the most massive missile attacks during the full-scale war,” Shamanov said. 

Earlier, Yurii Ihnat, the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, spoke about the massive missile attack on the air of the telethon.

Ihnat noted that as of 11:00 a.m. Kh-555 and Kh-101 missiles were launched from Tu-95. Russia also launched Kalibr missiles. Moreover, it has launched Kh-22 missiles from S-300 systems and Tu-22M3 aircraft. 

The spokesman noted that MiG-31K, Kinzhal missile carrier, was seen in the sky over Ukraine, as well as Su-35s that fired Kh-59 missiles.

"Well, we are assessing air defence results. It worked well. We will announce the results later," added Ihnat.

He also clarified in a comment for Suspilne that today Russia has launched Tu-95 from Engels airfield for the first time. According to him, Russian forces used everything they had, except drones.

"There were no drones, but Russia has used everything it had except for them. They launched Tu-95, SU-35, MiG-31 aircraft. There was no special feature as such, but for the first time they launched a TU 95 from Engels. This had never happened before," noted Ihnat.

• On the morning of December 16, during the mass missile attacks on Ukraine, Russian missiles hit Kryvyi Rih, particularly a residential building. People may remain under the rubble.
• Also, during Russia's mass missile attack on Ukraine, about 12 enemy missiles hit Zaporizhzhia.