Published: · Region: Eastern Europe · Category: conflict

Russia’s Largest Drone Barrage Tests Ukraine’s Air Defenses and Missile Stockpiles

Ukraine says it faced more than 200 attack drones and a mix of ballistic, anti-ship, and anti-radar missiles overnight, claiming to have neutralized 174 UAVs and several loitering munitions. The onslaught pressures air defenses already stretched by months of war and raises fresh questions about how long Kyiv and its partners can sustain high-intensity interception rates.

Ukraine’s skies again turned into a battlefield overnight into 9 August, as Russian forces launched what Kyiv describes as one of the most intensive mixed air assaults of the war, testing both the limits of Ukrainian air defenses and the depth of Western missile stockpiles that underpin them. Ukrainian military authorities reported that from 18:00 on 8 August into the following morning, Russia fired ballistic, anti-ship, and anti-radar missiles alongside a massive wave of drones across the country, with Odesa region among the main targets. According to Ukraine’s account, the strike package included Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic weapons, Oniks anti-ship missiles, and Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, backed by 202 attack drones…

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