War in Ukraine: simultaneous Russian “decoy” and “suicide” drone attacks last night

Russian missiles damaged residential buildings in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, and Odessa, in the south, while a salvo of drones hit the capital kyiv and caused temporary power outages in the region south of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian authorities reported on Monday.

Fast forward

Russia, whose rapid advance in eastern Ukraine, is at the same time carrying out night attacks on towns far behind the front line using drones “suicides” cheap and drones “lures” at low prices, which put pressure on Ukrainian air defenses.

Of the 145 drones used overnight, Ukraine shot down 71 and lost track of 71 others, the Ukrainian Air Force said. In kyiv, the capital, residents said they heard the hum of drone engines flying over the city for several hours into the night.

Automatic fire was also heard as Ukrainian air defenses attempted to shoot down these drones. No casualties or significant damage have been reported at the moment in the capital and its surroundings.

Pressures, sanctions, blockages

President Volodimir Zelensky has called on kyiv's allies to step up pressure on Russia so that it no longer receives components needed for weapons systems. “These Russian attacks on the lives of Ukrainians can be stopped”he declared.

“With pressure, sanctions, by blocking the occupiers' access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, by supplying weapons to Ukraine and by showing a determination that must be unshakeable”he added.

A Russian missile attack Monday on the eastern city of Kharkiv injured at least 23 people and damaged more than 40 buildings, the regional governor and national police reported.

At least 10 injured in Odessa

In the southern city of Odessa, an attack damaged residential buildings and injured ten people, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said.

Energy infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region, also in the South, was targeted by a nighttime drone attack, causing power outages, while strikes hit industrial sites in the Zaporizhzhia region, in the South-East , also indicated the Ukrainian authorities.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has continued to attack the country's electricity grid and infrastructure. Russia's latest assault on energy infrastructure has revived fears of a winter marked by long power outages.