Ukraine's Air Force has released footage showing combat operations during a large-scale russian nighttime air attack against Ukraine. The strike took place overnight on December 27, beginning at 18:00 on December 26, and targeted critical infrastructure using a combination of drones and missiles launched from air, sea, and ground platforms.
The main direction of the attack was Kyiv region. Russian forces employed a complex, multi-vector strike intended to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses through the simultaneous use of large numbers of unmanned aerial vehicles and various types of missiles.
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In total, Ukraine's radio-technical troops detected and tracked 559 aerial attack assets, including 40 missiles and 519 drones of different types. The majority consisted of Shahed-type loitering munitions and other UAVs launched from multiple directions inside russia as well as from temporarily occupied Crimea.
The missile component of the attack included ballistic and aeroballistic Iskander-M and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles launched from russia's Ryazan and Bryansk regions, cruise missiles of the Iskander-K and Kalibr types fired from Rostov region and the Black Sea, Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from aircraft over russia's Vologda region, and Kh-22 missiles launched from airspace over the Black Sea.
The air assault was repelled by a layered air defense system involving fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missile units, electronic warfare assets, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of Ukrainian forces. This integrated approach was aimed at countering both high-speed missile threats and mass drone attacks.
As of 13:00, preliminary data indicate that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed or suppressed 503 aerial targets. These include 474 Shahed-type and other drones, six Iskander-M or Kinzhal missiles, four Iskander-K or Kalibr cruise missiles, and 19 Kh-101 cruise missiles.
Despite the high interception rate, impacts were recorded. Ten missiles and 25 strike drones reached their targets across 30 locations, while debris from intercepted targets fell at 16 additional sites, causing further damage risks.
The Ukrainian Air Force also reported that one missile failed to reach its intended target, while information regarding 15 drones that were lost from tracking is still being clarified.
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