Ukraine Downs 40 Missiles and 602 Drones in Mass Russian Aerial Barrage

(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, with the main strike directed at the capital Kyiv, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Tuesday. Air defence units shot down or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones, achieving interception rates of 55 percent for missiles and 92 percent for unmanned aerial vehicles.

According to the AFU Air Force, the massive combined strike ran from 18:00 on 1 June through the night and involved attack UAVs alongside air launched, sea launched, and ground launched missiles of various types. The primary target was Kyiv, with Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava region, and other regions also coming under fire.

The Air Force radio technical troops detected 729 aerial threats comprising 73 missiles and 656 UAVs. The missile salvo included 8 3M22 Zircon anti ship missiles fired from temporarily occupied Crimea and Kursk region of the Russian Federation, and 33 Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched from Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov regions as well as temporarily occupied Crimea. A further 27 Kh-101 cruise missiles were launched from Vologda region and 5 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea.

The drone wave consisted of 656 attack UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera and Italmas types, alongside Banderol loitering munitions and Parody type decoy drones. These were launched from Bryansk, Kursk, Orel, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in the Russian Federation, and from Hvardiiske and Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea.

The assault was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. By 08:30, preliminary data showed air defence had shot down or suppressed 642 targets: 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 26 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 3 Kalibr cruise missiles, and 602 enemy UAVs. This equates to a ballistic missile interception rate of 33 percent, a cruise missile interception rate of 91 percent, and a UAV interception rate of 92 percent.

According to preliminary information, strikes by 30 ballistic missiles, 3 cruise missiles and 33 attack UAVs were recorded at 38 locations as of 08:30. Falling debris from downed UAVs was confirmed at 15 sites. The attack was still ongoing at the time of reporting, with several attack UAVs remaining in Ukrainian airspace.

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released the figures.