Ukraine: Russia has launched over 8,000 missiles and 4,630 drones during war

Russia has launched more than 8,000 missiles and 4,630 drones at targets in Ukraine since its invasion two years ago, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said on Thursday.

Ukrainian air defenses have shot down 3,605 of the drones, he said in televised comments that gave an idea of the scale of Russia's aerial onslaught on Ukraine in two years of war since the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

Ihnat said small mobile teams of drone hunters were now bringing down most of the drones fired at Ukraine, including Iranian-made Shaheds, and their success rate was high.

In the latest overnight attack on Thursday, eight out of 10 Russian-launched drones were shot down over four Ukrainian regions, Ihnat said.

After two years of war, Moscow controls almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory including the Crimea peninsula it annexed in 2014 although the front lines have largely stagnated in the last 14 months.

Ukraine's defenses have been strengthened by deliveries of advanced air defense systems from Western allies, including US Patriots. Ihnat did not provide overall numbers for such assistance and Ukrainian officials have said repeatedly that they need more weapons from abroad to support the war effort.

The overall number of Ukrainian military casualties is also not made public in a war that has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed cities, towns and villages, forced millions from their homes and placed hundreds of thousands more under occupation.



Reuters