Russia Launches 163 Drones Overnight at Ukraine; Air Defence Missile Shortage Bites
Russia launched 163 attack drones at Ukraine overnight starting at 6pm Kyiv time on Tuesday, including jet-powered Shaheds, Gerberas, Italmas drones and Parodiya-type decoys, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Ukrainian air defence forces shot down or neutralised 150 drones in the north, south and east of the country. Eight strike UAVs hit seven locations; debris from downed drones fell at four further locations. The drones were launched from the directions of Kursk, Bryansk, Orel, Millerovo and Shatalovo. Ukraine remains acutely short of interceptor missiles for its US-made Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T air defence systems.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his appeals to allies for more air defence systems, saying the sophisticated American-made systems Ukraine needs are in short supply because of the parallel Iran campaign. Patriots remain the only effective weapon for shooting down Russia’s ballistic missiles — including the hypersonic Oreshnik missile Russia used in Saturday’s attack on Bila Tserkva. Russia’s spring offensive is floundering as Ukraine’s midrange drone strikes disrupt Russian rear supply lines, per recent analytical assessment. Moscow this week told foreign citizens and diplomatic staff to leave the Ukrainian capital “as soon as possible” ahead of further threatened “systemic strikes” on Kyiv targeting the military industrial complex; Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the overall level of security threats “remains the same as in previous years and months”.