Massive Missile Attack on Ukraine: Infrastructure Facilities, Residential Neighbourhoods Hit

The Russians got back to their terrorist tactics of massive missile attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure facilities and residential neighbourhoods.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny reported, during the massive attack on 9 March, the Russian occupation forces fired 81 missiles of types bases and launched eight drones.

According to him, the Russians fired:

• 28 Kh-101/Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles
• 20 Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles
• 6 Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles
• 6 Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched cruise missiles
• 8 air guided missiles: 2 Kh-31P missiles, 6 Kh-59 missiles
• 13 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles

In addition, the Russians launched eight Shahed-136/131 combat drones.

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in cooperation with other units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, destroyed 34 cruise missiles and four Shahed-136/131 drones.

According to Yuriy Ihnat, Spokesperson for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian army launched such a massive strike with missiles of various types for the first time.

“This was really the first attack by missiles of such different types, we see six Kinzhal missiles, I don’t remember this before… We can’t shoot down Kinzhal, Kh-22, and S-300 missiles yet. The Russians wanted to hit our air defence system with guided air missiles,” the spokesperson said.

According to the Ministry of Energy, strikes on energy facilities were recorded in seven regions: Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zhytomyr.

The Energoatom power company reports that the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been completely de-energised as a result of Russian missile strikes. The 5th and 6th power units are put into a cold state, 18 diesel generators are switched on to power the plant’s own needs.

In Kyiv, an infrastructure object was hit in one of the districts, and people were injured. In Zolochiv, Lviv region, a missile hit residential buildings, killing five people.

Due to the attack, serious problems with electricity supply are observed in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Zhytomyr cities. Electricity supply in these three regions is limited the most.

Bohdan Marusyak