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Moscow launched a massive day time aerial attack on Ukraine on Wednesday with hundreds of drones intended to overwhelm the country’s air defences, killing at least three people and wounding 12 others.
Ukraine’s military intelligence warned the population of a “prolonged combined attack on Ukraine’s critical and civilian infrastructure” as the first air raid sirens went off across the country around 11:00am local time.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it detected at least eight groups of Shahed-type drones coming from different directions.
According to the Ukrainian monitoring channel “Monitor” dozens of drones entered the country’s airspace from Belarus, flying over the Chernobyl region toward the country’s northwest.
Ukraine’s Air Force stated that many of the drones were heading towards the capital Kyiv from the north.
Explosions from air defence activity were heard shortly afterward in the capital.
Another group of Shahed-type drones entered from the Black Sea, heading west toward the Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Ternopil regions.
A significant number of the drones appeared to be heading further south and west toward the central Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi.
Ukraine’s military intelligence issued a statement saying after the first wave of drones, Russian forces intend to follow up with a significant number of air- and sea-launched cruise missiles, as well as ballistic missiles.
Russia’s new tactic
Until recently, Russia had mainly carried out mass drone and missile strikes at night.
But the tactic seems to have changed in March-April, when Moscow switched to a daytime assault strategy.
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War, the new Russian tactic — combining a major night time strike with an equally heavy daytime assault — is likely to increase damage to Ukrainian civilians.
This approach lets Russia threaten more areas of Ukraine for longer periods and disproportionately affect civilian districts.
Russia has previously launched 700 or more aerial targets in night time attacks, the analysts noted.