Ukraine’s air defence destroy 72 Russian missiles, including 10 Kinzhals, 3 Kalibrs

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, reported the information. 

According to him, on the night of January 2, Russian troops basically repeated the massive attack of December 29, 2023, using various types of air attack weapons. This time, Kyiv was the main target of the attack. 

Russian forces attacked Ukraine from strategic aviation. At around 06:00 am, 16 Tu-95MS bombers reached the launch line and launched at least 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-launched cruise missiles.

An hour and a half later, at 07:30 am, 10 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aerial ballistic missiles were launched from MiG-31K fighter jets. 

"The enemy also attacked from the sea with 3 Kalibr cruise missiles, and from the north with 12 missiles flying along the Iskander-M/S-300/S-400 ballistic trajectory. Four Kh-31P anti-radar missiles were launched from Su-35 tactical aircraft," the statement said. 

Zaluzhnyi noted that in total, Russian troops launched 99 missiles of various types. Air defense forces destroyed 72 of them: 

• 10 out of 10 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles
• 59 out of 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles;
• 3 out of 3 Kalibr cruise missiles

On the evening and night of 2 January, Russian forces launched attack drones on Ukrainian territory for the second time after the daytime attack: air defenses were operating in Kyiv and Mykolaiv regions. Later, reports indicated that the Ukrainian Defence Forces had destroyed all 35 attack drones. 

Later, the Russian army attacked Ukraine with strategic aircraft. A series of explosions occurred in Kyiv and Kharkiv. The attacks resulted in deaths and injuries and destroyed buildings.