During the night of May 18 (starting from 6:00 p.m. on May 17), the Russian forces launched a combined strike against Ukraine using attack drones and ground-based missiles.
The main direction of the attack was the city of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region. Odessa region, Chernihiv region, and Zaporizhzhia were also targeted.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force radio-technical troops, a total of 546 aerial attack assets were detected, including 22 missiles and 524 UAVs:
- 14 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles launched from Russia’s Rostov region and the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- 8 Iskander-K cruise missiles launched from the temporarily occupied Crimea;
- 524 attack UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, as well as Parodiya decoy drones launched from the directions of Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as occupied Donetsk and Hvardiiske in occupied Crimea.
The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
According to preliminary data as of 8:30 a.m., Ukrainian air defense shot down or suppressed 507 targets — 4 missiles and 503 UAVs of various types:
- 4 Iskander-K cruise missiles;
- 503 UAVs of various types.
Hits by 18 missiles and 16 attack UAVs were recorded at 34 locations. In addition, debris from downed UAVs fell at 11 locations.
