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08:33 21 Jun 2023

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine's western Khmelnytskyi region

Photo: GettyImage

On the night of June 21, Russian invaders launched an attack on Ukraine's western Khmelnytskyi region using kamikaze drones. Ukraine's Air Force successfully neutralized all six drones.

 The Air Force released a statement on the Telegram messaging app, confirming the attack and the successful interception of all aerial targets, Rubryka reports.

"On the night of June 21, the enemy launched an attack from the north using Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones," said the statement. "All kamikaze drones were successfully downed by the Ukrainian Air Force in Khmelnytskyi."

However, as a result of the attack, debris from the downed drones caused a building fire in one of the communities of the region. The local state energy operator, Khmelnitskoblenergo, reported to national broadcaster Suspilne that a part of the city and two villages in the community were left without power. Restoration of electricity was scheduled to be completed by 08:00.

Повітряні Сили

21.06.2023. 7:00. Destroyed: six Shahed-136/131 attack drones; four reconnaissance drones. Photo: Telegram / Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

According to the Air Force, on June 21, the Ukrainian Defense Forces also successfully intercepted and brought down four Russian reconnaissance drones of different types.

Ukrainian aviation conducted numerous sorties, targeting the positions, equipment, and rear areas of the Russian occupying forces. These operations were supported by air weapons supplied by Western partners.

To recap, the air alert was announced in the Khmelnytskyi region at 03:40. The Khmelnytskyi regional military administration reported the explosions after 05:00.

"Explosions were heard in the Khmelnytskyi region. Stay in shelters!" said the message.

Before that, the movement of the Shahed drones was reported on Telegram by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The movement of several attack UAVs of the Shahed type was recorded in the Sumy and Poltava regions!" the Air Force said.

Later, it was reported about Shaheds over Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions. The air alert was extended across multiple regions of Ukraine from 01:18 to 05:25 due to the presence of Russian drones.

Background

On the night of June 20, the Russian invaders again struck Ukraine's military and infrastructure facilities using Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones. The defenders of the sky managed to down 32 drones out of 35.

As Rubryka reported, on June 20, at around 5 a.m., Ukraine's western city of Lviv was attacked by Shahed drones. Three drones hit a critical infrastructure facility. Russian troops also carried out a massive air attack on Zaporizhzhia and its suburbs, damaging communications and private property, without casualties. Russians used ballistics — Iskander-M/S-300 missiles.

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