Iskander-M. Photo: Mikhail Voskresensky/RIA Novosti

On the night of 20 December and in the morning, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine using Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Shahed attack drones and other types of drones. The Ukrainian Air Force reported successful destruction of most targets by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare (EW) units and mobile fire groups.

Night attack: missiles and drones

The enemy struck:

• Iskander-M missiles from the Rostov region,
• With X-59/69 guided missiles from the airspace of Kursk region,
• 65 attack drones from the areas of Bryansk, Millerovo, Orel and Primorsko-Akhtarsk.

Ukrainian air defence confirmed the downing of 40 Shahed and other drones in the airspace of Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Results of air defence and security operations

Active countermeasures by the Defence Forces resulted in 20 enemy imitator drones being lost to electronic warfare.

“The enemy is losing the effectiveness of its attacks due to the integrated work of aviation, anti-aircraft units and electronic warfare,” the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Morning attack on Kyiv

On the morning of 20 December, Russia launched five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from the Voronezh and Bryansk regions. All the missiles were destroyed by Ukrainian air defence over the capital, which prevented significant damage.

Consequences of night shelling

Despite the successful operation of air defences, the shock waves caused damage in several regions:

• Private and multi-apartment buildings in Dnipropetrovs’k, Sumy, Kyiv and Kharkiv regions were affected,
• Medical facilities, warehouses and farms were affected.