“The vast majority of Russian cruise missiles – 34 out of 35 – were intercepted by F-16 pilots, said Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “The vast majority (missiles – ed.) were intercepted by tactical aviation pilots. It was the F-16 pilots who took part in repelling this cruise missile strike today. I would like to emphasize that air-to-air missiles, as well as missiles for our air defense systems, are a rather scarce commodity for us today. Everyone emphasizes this – the pilots speak in their interviews, and the top military leadership. The President of Ukraine, in particular, emphasized to his partners the need to strengthen air defense both with the complexes themselves and with missiles. Because some complexes are standing in general, in fact, without them,” he said on the air of the national telethon. Ignat noted that due to the fact that “missiles are arriving both at aircraft and at ground complexes – not in the amount we would like, of course – but they are arriving, we can repel such attacks today.” According to the spokesman, in addition to the F-16, the strikes of the Russian Federation were repelled by Mirages, interceptor drones and mobile fire groups. During the night, the Russian army massively attacked Ukraine with drones, and in the morning the Air Force reported the launch of missiles by Russia as well. An air alert was declared on the entire territory of Ukraine. In the morning of December 23, emergency power cuts were introduced in a number of regions of Ukraine. According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of December 23, the Russian military launched a combined strike against the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, using 635 UAVs of various types and 38 missiles, in particular, three X-47M2 “Kinzhal” aeroballistic missiles and 35 X-101, “Iskander-K” cruise missiles. At least three people are known to have died. Kyiv OVA provided data on the dead person and three victims in the region. In Zhytomyr Oblast, a child died due to an attack by the Russian Federation, five more people were injured, and a dead person was also reported in Khmelnytsky Oblast. Five people were injured in Kyiv. According to the government, energy facilities in the western regions were the most affected during the strike. The Ministry of Energy reported that consumers in Rivne, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi regions were almost completely cut off, as well as power cuts in Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions due to shelling.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The vast majority (missiles – ed.) were intercepted by tactical aviation pilots. It was the F-16 pilots who took part in repelling this cruise missile strike today. I would like to emphasize that air-to-air missiles, as well as missiles for our air defense systems, are a rather scarce commodity for us today. Everyone emphasizes this – the pilots speak in their interviews, and the top military leadership. The President of Ukraine, in particular, emphasized to his partners the need to strengthen air defense both with the complexes themselves and with missiles. Because some complexes are standing in general, in fact, without them,” he said on the air of the national telethon.
According to the spokesman, in addition to the F-16, the strikes of the Russian Federation were repelled by Mirages, interceptor drones and mobile fire groups.
During the night, the Russian army massively attacked Ukraine with drones, and in the morning the Air Force reported the launch of missiles by Russia as well. An air alert was declared on the entire territory of Ukraine. In the morning of December 23, emergency power cuts were introduced in a number of regions of Ukraine.
According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of December 23, the Russian military launched a combined attack on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, using 635 UAVs of various types and 38 missiles, in particular, three Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” aeroballistic missiles and 35 Kh-101, “Iskander-K” cruise missiles.
At least three people are known to have died. Kyiv OVA provided data on the dead person and three victims in the region. In Zhytomyr Oblast, a child died due to an attack by the Russian Federation, five more people were injured, and a dead person was also reported in Khmelnytsky Oblast. Five people were injured in Kyiv.
According to the government, energy facilities in the western regions were the most affected during the strike. The Ministry of Energy reported that consumers in Rivne, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi regions were almost completely cut off, as well as power cuts in Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions due to shelling.