On the night of September 28, 2023, russian occupiers launched an attack from the southeast direction (near Primorsko-Akhtarsk in russia, Cape Chauda in Crimea) using 44 Shahed-136/131 UAVs.
Through the combined efforts and resources of the Air Force, in cooperation with the air defense units of the Armed Forces, 34 Shahed drones were successfully eliminated. Fighter aircraft, air defense missile divisions and mobile fire groups were deployed to repel the attack.
Read more: Ukraine Shot Down 91% of the Kalibr Missiles and All the Shahed Drones, But the Issue with Oniks Missiles Remains
Prior to this attack, the highest recorded number of downed drones of the Shahed-136/131 type was during an attack on the night of September 13, 2023. The occupiers launched 44 kamikaze drones simultaneously, but it should be noted that three launch sites were utilized – Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk on russian territory and Cape Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea.
Such a substantial number of both launched Shaheds (44 in a single operation) and downed drones (34 at once) has not been observed in the past two months.
Moreover, the russians have begun to redeploy their missile ships, possibly in anticipation of new attacks from the Armed Forces of Ukriane and to prepare for further missile strikes against Ukraine.
For instance, OSINT analyst MT Anderson shared a satellite image, indicating that as of September 25, 2023, the temporarily occupied port of Feodosia hosted two Kalibr missile-carrying ships, one Buyan-M class corvette of project 21631 and one Karakurt-class corvette of project 22800. Additionally, there were at least two Alexandrit-class minesweepers and one large landing ship of project 775.
The presence of such a number of russian Black Sea Fleet ships in the waters of the temporarily occupied port of Feodosia is unprecedented, especially considering that this harbor was not used for the placement of russian military vessels before the summer of 2023.
Read more: Russia Launches a Missile Attack on Energy Infrastructure for the First Time in 6 Months
