Ukrainian Air Force: "Russia has changed drone attack tactics"
Photo: armyinform com ua
The Russian forces altered their attack tactics by deploying strike drones over Ukraine in the morning instead of at night.
On Thursday, Russian forces targeted Ukraine with no fewer than ten unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Rubryka reports, citing the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, Colonel Yurii Ihnat, during a television marathon.
"This time, the enemy has slightly shifted the timeframes for strike tasks," he said. "We are currently around half past 8, but the alarms are still ongoing. Usually, at this time, we provide statistics on downed drones, how many flew, where, and what we managed to destroy in the airspace."
Ihnat explained that the "standard time" for Russian drone attacks was from 10:00 p.m. to 3-4 a.m.
On Thursday morning, the Russians conducted waves of attacks from various directions. The spokesperson said that they had carried out daytime strikes before, and such attack times facilitated the work of the Ukrainian air defense.
"Before attacking us in the late evening and night, they used to carry out attacks during the day. Then, they saw that it was easier for our defense forces to down them during the day because there was a visual reference to the target," Ihnat added. "That's why they changed to nighttime. The nights are a bit longer, and morning visibility depends primarily on weather conditions. So, it is not easy to visually detect these aerial targets because of cloudiness and fog. All of this complicates the work of mobile fire groups, which require extremely visual target binding."
According to the spokesperson, the air defense was also active in the Poltava region on Wednesday — a Russian Kh-59 missile was destroyed as a result of combat operations.
Russian morning attack
On Thursday morning, November 16, Russian occupiers released strike drones, presumably Shahed, from the south over Ukraine.
The groups of attack drones were moving towards the Khmelnytskyi region. Explosions were heard in the region due to the work of air defense.
The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed those were Shahed drones that were attacking the region. He called on residents, especially in the city of Starokostiantyniv, to stay in shelters until the all-clear.
Starokostiantyniv is home to a military airfield. Russian occupiers have repeatedly attempted to attack it.
On the night of November 16, explosions were also reported in the Kharkiv region. The Ukrainian Air Force declared a missile danger. According to local authorities, the impact happened in the Chuhuiv area. At least seven explosions were heard there. Emergency services are searching for the impact sites.
While detailed information about the consequences of the attack is not available, the authorities emphasize that there are no casualties.
Rubryka reported that Ukraine could create a powerful "air dome" over its territory, which will provide maximum protection against enemy attacks if it receives everything described in the vision of the Air Force adopted even before the full-scale war.
Russia has shelled Ukraine daily since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and conducted air attacks on the country's regions. Only in October of this year, the Russian army launched 243 Iranian-made kamikaze drones, 15 Kh-59 missiles, and nine cruise missiles. Ukrainian air defense forces managed to destroy almost all of these targets.
