Throughout the night, Air Defence Forces shot down 73 Russian drones: six regions were affected by the attack

Throughout the night, Air Defence Forces shot down 73 Russian drones: six regions were affected by the attack

Ukrainian sky defenders repelled an attack by the Russian Federation on the night of March 9, conducted using more than a hundred strike and decoy drones. A total of 73 targets were neutralized over 12 regions, while more than three dozen were lost without consequences.

The aggressor country started this attack at 19:00 the previous day, reported the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhya were affected.

It was reported that the enemy launched 119 drones (strike Shaheds and various types of decoy drones) from the following directions: Orel, Millerovo, Kursk, Bryansk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk (RF), Cape Chauda (temporarily occupied Crimea).

The attack from the air was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare (EW) units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defense Forces of Ukraine.

As of 09:00 Sunday, the downing of 73 various Russian drones was confirmed in the Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Mykolaiv regions.

Additionally, 37 decoy UAVs were lost in location (without negative consequences).

In the Sumy Regional Military Administration, it was reported that on the evening of March 8, an enemy Molniya-type drone fell in a residential area of Sumy.

It damaged an office building – 11 windows were shattered. Firefighters extinguished the fire, and there were no casualties.

On Saturday evening, a critical infrastructure facility in Zaporizhzhya was hit. A powerful fire broke out at the site of the strike, which firefighters battled for five hours. As a result of the attack, gas consumption restrictions were imposed in the region.

At midnight, Russian UAVs attacked the Izyum and Chuhuiv districts of the Kharkiv region. In particular, in Balakliya, two drones hit an educational institution, damaging residential buildings, an administrative building, a hospital, a cafe, and vehicles.

A fire also broke out over an area of 50 square meters. In the village of Kochetok, a children’s facility building was damaged by a strike, and construction elements caught fire. The State Emergency Service reported that all fires were extinguished, and there were no victims or injuries.

In the Lubny district of the Poltava region, two utility structures were destroyed due to a UAV crash. There were no casualties, and the fire was extinguished.

According to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, 33 enemy UAVs were recorded on approaches to the capital this time, of which defenders destroyed 12, while the rest were lost in location or left the airspace of Kyiv region. Information on damage and casualties from debris is absent.

In the territory of the Khmelnytskyi region, Air Defence Forces shot down seven Russian drones; one was destroyed in the Mykolaiv region.