Ukraine intercepts 34 drones in Russian overnight attack

Russian war

16 January 2025, 10:54 AM

Author: Demian Shevko
Russian forces launched a massive overnight drone attack on Ukraine early Thursday, Jan. 16, deploying 55 Shahed kamikaze drones and other types of unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukraine’s air defense shot down 34 of the drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Air defense systems were active across multiple regions, including Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that 18 Russian decoy drones were lost from radar tracking during the attack.

Several drones struck a farming facility in the Chernihiv Oblast, while falling debris damaged private homes in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions.

Earlier on Jan. 16, Poltava’s Regional Military Administration reported damage to the area’s energy infrastructure from Shahed drone debris, leaving over 300 residential customers and 22 businesses without power.

This attack follows another large-scale assault on Jan. 14, when Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s energy grid using 43 missiles and 74 drones. Air defenses intercepted 77 out of 117 projectiles.

In Lviv Oblast, two critical infrastructure sites in the Drohobych and Stryi districts were hit. Local authorities reported no casualties but confirmed structural damage. The Ivano-Frankivsk region also reported the aftermath of the strikes.

Naftogaz Ukraine announced that gas infrastructure had come under fire but reassured that all facilities continue to operate as usual.

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