On the night of 3 November (starting at 18:00 on 2 November), Russian forces launched a large-scale aerial attack on Ukraine using ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as attack drones.
The attack involved:
- Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and Zircon anti-ship missiles launched from Russia's Rostov, Voronezh and Kursk regions;
- 59 air- and ground-launched cruise missiles, including Kh-101, Kh-59, Kh-69 and Iskander-K, launched from Russia's Vologda, Orenburg and Oryol regions;
- 289 UAVs, including Shahed attack drones (120 of them jet-powered), Gerbera drones and Parodiya decoy drones, launched from Oryol, Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as Russian-controlled Donetsk, Hvardiiske and Chauda in Crimea.
The main targets were the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The aerial attack was repelled by aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of Ukraine's Defence Forces.
According to preliminary data, as of 09:00, Ukrainian air defences had shot down or suppressed 309 aerial targets:
- 3 Iskander-M/KN-23/Zircon missiles;
- 49 Kh-101, Kh-59, Kh-69 and Iskander-K cruise missiles (information concerning three missiles is still being verified);
- 257 Russian UAVs, including Shahed drones (89 of them jet-powered), Gerbera drones and other types of unmanned aircraft.
Direct hits by Russian missiles and attack drones were recorded at 23 locations, while debris from intercepted aerial targets fell at 14 locations.
