Ukrainian air force claims to have shot down 45 "Shahed" drones overnight

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported today the shooting down of 45 kamikaze drones with which the Russian forces attacked Ukraine during the night of the end of the year.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
01 January 2023 Sunday 04:30
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Ukrainian air force claims to have shot down 45 "Shahed" drones overnight

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported today the shooting down of 45 kamikaze drones with which the Russian forces attacked Ukraine during the night of the end of the year.

"On the night of December 31, 2022 to January 1, 2023, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made 'Shahed-131/136' kamikaze drones," the Armed Forces Air Command said in a statement on Telegram. , which collects the agency Ukrinform.

It adds that "as a result of combat operations, the air force's anti-aircraft defense in cooperation with the anti-aircraft defense of other components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed 45 attack drones" and specifies that thirteen were shot down in 2022 and 32 , in 2023.

The military administration of the city of kyiv, for its part, indicated that during the night "32 air targets were identified in the kyiv area", which were all shot down.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, called the Russian night attack "cowardly", while being convinced of Ukraine's victory in 2023.

"Unbelievable. Russia coldly and cowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the new year," he wrote in a message on Twitter.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin "still doesn't seem to understand that Ukrainians are made of iron."

"The United States is fully confident that Ukraine will win in 2023." she said.

Despite the bombings, some Ukrainians dared to take to the streets to bid farewell to 2022 in the hope that the new year will bring peace to their country.