On the morning of 18 November, Ukraine’s Air Force, to which the country’s Air Defense Forces are subordinate, reported that Russia launched a limited drone and missile attack the previous night.
This comes after the previous day’s massive air assault on Ukraine. Russia continues its deliberate daily strikes on residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Yesterday’s attack, the largest in months, involved 120 missiles, including advanced Zircon and Kinzhal models, and 90 drones, causing civilian casualties and damaging multiple power facilities.
According to the report, overnight on 18 November, starting at 19:30 the previous day, Russia launched 11 Shahed one-way attack drones, two ballistic missiles, and a guided missile – significantly fewer aerial weapons compared to the previous day’s large-scale assault.
The 11 “Shahed-type attack drones and other unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles” and a Kh-59 guided missile were launched from Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Meanwhile, the two Iskander-M ballistic missiles that struck a residential high-rise in Sumy, causing multiple casualties, were launched from Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, crossing several regions before reaching their target.
The Air Force says Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted eight attack drones over Poltava, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv oblasts, while three drones were “locationally lost,” meaning they disappeared from radar, possibly crashing.
In recent weeks, Russia has increasingly deployed cheap aerial decoy drones in large numbers to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, increasing the likelihood of drones carrying warheads penetrating protected areas. The “locationally lost” drones mentioned in Air Force reports are most likely these decoys.
Death toll in Sumy rises to 11, injuries reach 89
The death toll from the Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Sumy currently stands at 11, with two children among those killed by Russia, as confirmed by Sumy’s acting mayor, Artem Kobzar, and the regional military administration.
Sumy Oblast authorities updated that Russian forces carried out two missile strikes yesterday. The first missile hit a residential area, causing most of the casualties, setting 14 cars on fire, and damaging six apartment buildings. The second strike, with its target unspecified, injured three people. Additionally, “the city lost power,” implying that the second strike damaged power infrastructure.
Death toll rises to 11, including 2 children, in Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Sumy
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