"Russia continues its terrorist war against life, and it is important that every such despicable attack on civilians is met with concrete consequences in Russia — sanctions and real pressure," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in response to the enemy attack overnight into Oct. 30, emphasizing the importance of new measures to put pressure on the Russian oil and gas industry and finances, as well as secondary sanctions on those who sponsor this war.
As Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told NV, critical infrastructure, particularly energy facilities, were once again targeted by the enemy. "The goal of these terrorist attacks is clear — to leave Ukraine without heat and power during the heating season. This has become a tactic during this period," he added.
A distinctive feature of this attack, compared to the previous massive attack on Oct. 22, was the enemy's use of a variety of weapons. From 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 29 until the morning of the next day, the Russians fired 705 weapons — 52 air-, ground-, and sea-based missiles, including aeroballistic Kinzhal, ballistic Iskander-M/KN-23, three types of cruise and air missiles, as well as 653 drones of various types, about 400 of which were Shahed drones.
Ukrainian forces neutralized 592 drones, seven Kalibr cruise missiles, one Iskander-K cruise missile, 21 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and two Kh-59/69 guided air missiles using aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare teams, drone operators, and mobile fire groups.
However, four Kinzhals, five Iskander-M/KN-23s, and about a dozen other missiles got through.
Intercepting ballistic targets requires Patriot surface-to-air missile systems positioned no farther than 25 kilometers from the target, Ihnat added.
"You cannot shoot down a ballistic missile en route — it climbs into the stratosphere, flies very high and descends straight onto the target," he said. "The geography of enemy strikes is vast, our country is big, so Patriots are not everywhere. And there is no 100% guarantee that a Patriot will intercept it. Achieving that success rate against ballistic [missiles] is extremely difficult."
Ihnat noted that Zelenskyy is in constant communication with Western partners to bolster air defenses and replenish stocks of anti-aircraft and air-launched missiles.
16 Russian missiles and 63 drones hit 20 locations overnight, with debris falling on 19 more sites across regions. Three missiles were lost to radar.
In Zaporizhzhya, strikes damaged residential buildings and a dormitory, injuring dozens including five children; two people were killed.
Russians also hit energy and other facilities in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv oblasts.
DTEK reported serious damage to several thermal power plants in various regions.