Ukraine's air defense neutralizes 710 of 753 Russian drones in massive day-long attack

Ukraine's air defense forces neutralized 710 unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Russian army to attack Ukraine between 08:00 and 18:30 on Wednesday. Hits and falling debris were recorded at 26 locations.

The Ukrainian Air Force announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

According to the military, Russian forces used 753 drones of various types during the day, including Shahed UAVs (including jet-powered versions), Gerbera, Italmas, and Parodiya decoy drones.

"Taking into account the overnight attack (139 UAVs), more than 892 enemy drones of these types were used during the day," the Air Force said.

The main target of the strike was the western regions of the country.

A feature of the attack is that, once again, Russia used the territory of Belarus and Moldova for the flight of strike UAVs toward Ukraine.

The air assault was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

According to preliminary data as of 18:30, air defense shot down or jammed 710 Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas UAVs, and Parodiya decoy drones in almost all regions of the country.

At 26 locations, 27 strike UAV hits were recorded, as well as the fall of downed drones (debris).

The Air Force said that the attack was ongoing. Several enemy drones are still being detected in Ukrainian airspace.

Read also: Air Defense Forces shoot down 111 of 139 Russian drones

On May 13, Russia launched a prolonged air attack against Ukraine. The targets include critical infrastructure and life-support facilities in major cities, defense industry enterprises, and buildings of state authorities.

In the first wave of the attack, Russia is using a significant number of strike drones to overload air defense systems and hit civilian targets.

Subsequently, a large number of cruise missiles, both air- and sea-launched, as well as ballistic missiles, are expected to be used.