Ukrainian forces down 102 missiles, 42 UAVs in Russian morning attack

The Air Force of Ukraine reported that the attack, which began the evening of November 16, targeted Ukraine’s energy sector with a mix of aerial, land, and sea-based missiles, along with Shahed drones.

Preliminary data shows that Ukraine’s air defense tracked 210 Russian targets in total - 120 missiles and 90 drones.

Types of weapons used by Russia:

• 1 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile;
• 8 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles;
• 101 cruise missiles (Kh-101, Kalibr);
• 1 Iskander-M ballistic missile;
• 4 Kh-22/Kh-31P cruise/anti-radar missiles;
• 5 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles;
• 90 attack drones (types unspecified).

Russian aircraft involved:

• 7 Tu-160 strategic bombers;
• 16 Tu-95MS strategic bombers;
• 2 Tu-22M3 long-range bombers;
• 5 Su-34 fighter-bombers;
• 4 Su-27 fighters;
• 10 MiG-31K fighters;
• 4 ships — cruise missile carriers.

“During the night, all available air defense systems were activated along the missile and drone routes. Ukrainian forces deployed aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment, and mobile fire groups," the military reported.

According to preliminary data, by 12:00 p.m., a total of 144 aerial targets were shot down, including 102 missiles and 42 drones:

• 1 hypersonic 3M22 Zircon ship missile;
• 7 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles;
• 85 Kh-101 Kalibr cruise missiles;
• 4 Kh-22/Kh-31P cruise/anti-radar missiles;
• 5 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles;
• 42 strike UAVs/drones of unspecified type (launched from Kursk, Oryol, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions in Russia).

41 Russian UAVs were lost in different regions of Ukraine, and another 2 UAVs flew towards Russia and the temporarily occupied territory.

Air defense was active across almost all regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv.

• On Sunday morning, November 17, Russian forces launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine. Strategic bombers took flight, and cruise and ballistic missile launches were detected. Energy infrastructure was a primary target.