Russia launched a series of missiles and UAVs to attack Ukraine at night

“The central hospital in the city of Selidovo in Donetsk province, the building at the Kotlyarevska coal mine and a number of other civil infrastructure were destroyed or damaged in the raid last night,” the Ukrainian army announced on November 21. .

Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, said two hospital buildings in Selidovo were damaged and six people were injured in the raid. “Some victims may be trapped under the rubble, we are continuing search and rescue operations,” Mr. Klymenko said.

The attack on the Kotlyarevska coal mine in the city of Novogrodovka killed one worker, damaged four buildings, 19 vehicles and a power line. “39 miners were trapped underground after the raid. All were later brought to the surface,” Mr. Klymenko said.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russia used four converted S-300 air defense missiles, one Iskander-K cruise missile and 11 suicide drones (UAVs) similar to the Shahed-136/131 model released by Iran. deployed to launch the attack. “Ukrainian air defense downed a cruise missile and 10 Russian UAVs,” the Ukrainian military announced.

Russia has not released information related to the raid.

The air attack took place as Ukraine was preparing to enter winter, making the role of critical infrastructure such as power plants, transformer stations and heating systems especially important.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country’s air defense network is stronger than last year, but admitted that it cannot protect the entire territory.

On November 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the country’s military raided ammunition and petroleum depots in Kiev and Kirovograd provinces, but did not announce the type of weapons used. On the same day, Ukraine said that Russia used 20 UAVs of the Shahed-136/131 type in the raid, of which 15 were intercepted by the country’s air defense.

A series of Russian raids targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure late last year caused widespread power outages in the country. The West then aided Ukraine with many modern air defense complexes to cope.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, Reuters)