During the night and morning of November 17, the Russians carried out one of the most massive air attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – more than 210 different missiles and UAVs. Heroic Ukrainian air defense repelled the combined attack for over 10 hours in a row and destroyed almost 70% of the air targets – 144 units.
Total air defense systems downed / Russians used:
85/101 X-101/55 and “Caliber” missiles;
4/4 Х-59/69 missiles;
0/1 “Iskander-M” missile;
7/8 X-47m2 “Kinzhal” missiles;
1/1 “Zircon” missile;
42/90 UAVs, 41 more locally lost (EW).
Ukraine’s air defense forces are real titans! It is thanks to Western air defense systems and aircraft that such a high interception rate was achieved. Nevertheless, some missiles still hit civilian infrastructure, and dozens of dead and more than a hundred wounded are already known…
But unfortunately, these means are not enough, because the Russians have been accumulating missiles and conducting complex combined strikes for several weeks.
Therefore, Ukrainians have to use outdated man-portable air defense systems such as “Strela” and “Igla”. But in the right hands, they also will be effective.
This was proved by soldier Natalia Grabarchuk, who shot down a Russian missile from an “Igla” MANPADS during a morning attack. It was her first combat shot and at the same time her first hit on target. Natalia has completed a 5-month training course at the training center, made hundreds of training launches on simulators, and mastered various types of man-portable air defense systems. Until recently, she was also a kindergarten teacher.
It is thanks to such highly motivated and trained fighters that Ukraine continues to effectively resist the Russian occupation. However, for daily defense, much more Western assistance is needed – in the form of air defense equipment and aircraft.
