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On the night of May 29, wave of Russian UAV and missile strikes hit Ukrainian military facilities throughout the country. Explosions thundered in almost regions of Ukraine, mainly in the west and south of the country, as well as in the capital. In the morning, Russian strikes continued. Air alert is now sounding in several regions.
The Ukrainian military again provided amazing data on the results of work of their Air defence forces last night. The Ukrainian military reportedly destroyed 37 cruise missiles X-101/X-555, 29 strike UAVs and 1 reconnaissance drone. According to Ukrainian military officials, in total, Russian forces fired up to 40 X-101/X-555 air-launched cruise missiles from nine Tu-95ms strategic aviation aircraft from the Caspian Sea area. From the northern and southern directions the Russian military strikes with Iranian Shahed-136/131 UAVs. There were 35 UAVs in total.
Thus, the Ukrainian military finally acknowledged that at least 6 Russian UAVs and 3 missiles reached their targets. However, according to the reports from various regions of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military suffered a heavy damage and the numbers provided by their officials do not correspond to reality. It is still not clear how the Ukrainian military is intercepting dozens of Russian cruise missiles on a daily basis? If they are shot down by air defence means of NATO countries, how can they pay for so many expensive foreign air defence missiles and pays for them? On the other hand, as Kiev has stated for many months of hostilities, Russia should have run out of all missiles.
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While Ukrainian military commanders are inventing how many missiles they shot down this time, Kiev’s officials are assessing damage. At night, explosions thundered in the Kiev, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovograd, Cherkasy, Poltava regions.
Ukrainian President Zelensky declared that on May 28, Ukraine was targeted by the largest drone attack since the beginning of the Russian military operations. According to him, in total, 54 UAVs were launched. LINK
On May 29, the strikes on the capital continued. This was the 15th attack of Russian forces on Kiev in May. Air defense was active in the city, but explosions thundered in several districts of the capital. The head of the city’s military administration said that the air attack on the capital was “combined, and was launched from different directions,” there was no official data on casualties or damage.
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In the morning, Russian strikes in the capital resumed. The mayor of Kyiv confirmed explosions in the city center and urged civilians to stay in their shelters.
Later, the locals reported that smoke was seen in the area of the Zhulyani airport located in the south-western part of the city. According to preliminary reports, the Patriot air defense system was struck near the airport. In total, sever targets were reportedly hit.
Successful daytime strikes on Kiev became possible after the city’s air defense has exhausted its capabilities during the attack at night. This is the first time that the Russian Airspace Forces have used such tactics. They launched waves of night strikes, including with fake targets, to deplete Ukrainian air defense means and after that another wave of strikes targeted strategically important targets in the strategic depth of the defense of the AFU.
Wreckage of anti-aircraft missiles are falling on the streets:
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At the moment, Russian strikes continue. The reports are coming from other Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian media report on the explosions in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
Among the other targets that were hit during the night attack, there is a large military facility of the AFU in the Khmelnitsky region. The local authorities acknowledged damage to five aircraft and the runway in the region. There is also a fire in the local fuel warehouses and the storage of military materiel.
It may be supposed that the target was the military airfield in Starokonstantinov, where the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the AFU is based. The pilots of this unit use Su-24M and Su-24MR bombers adapted for launching British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
According to preliminary reports, strikes in the Mykolaiv region hit military facilities of the AFU in the village of Snigirevka. The Ukrainian military is accumulating forces in the area, preparing for the offensive in the Kherson region.
The night was sleepless for residents of the Odessa region. The local authorities reported that a drone was shot down over the city, the wreckage of which fell in the port. As a result, a fire broke out, it was extinguished, the scale of damage is being specified.
However, local sources reported that a large explosion thundered in the city and Ukrainian air defences failed to intercept the UAV which hit a military facility in the port.
Ukrainian media reported that the Russian military used a new tactics during the night strikes. Together with strike UAVs, they launched numerous false targets, including cheap hand-made plywood planes with a motor running according to the coordinates. This time, the planes were equipped with reflectors made of foil and plastic tied on a long fishing line. They reflect the radar signal. As a result, air defence systems detected the reflector better than the false target itself. In particular, in Odessa, air defence systems were firing nonstop with indiscriminate fire which led to no results.
