Ukrainian Pilots Hunt Cruise Missiles As 12 of 13 Attack Drones Shot Down

Since Russia appears incapable of winning on the ground, its attacks pn civilian targets with missiles and drones will be unrelenting. But Ukrainian forces are responding with greater degrees of success. JL 

Valius Venckunas reports in Aviation News and Euromaidan Press reports:

The head of Chernivtsi Oblast administration Ruslan Zaparaniuk confirmed that an Ukrainian aircraft shot down a missile over Dnistrovskyi district. According to the post, the remains of the missile fell into a lake. On October 22 Russia conducted a cruise missile strike, which involved 17 Kh-55 (X-101) missiles launched by Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers, as well as 16 3M-54 Kalibr missiles launched by ships stationed in the Black Sea. (Last night) “12 out of 13 loitering munitions were destroyed by air defenses in the eastern and central regions of the country.”

Several videos, posted on Ukrainian social media channels, show fighter jets intercepting and shooting down Russian cruise missiles above Southern Ukraine.  

The videos showcase Ukrainian attempts to resist the latest Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure.  

They also provide some of the first cases of footage where both a launch and an explosion of a missile is visible: a rare instance in modern aerial warfare, which usually involves large distances and high speeds.

In one of the videos, an aircraft – which can be recognized as a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet – launches an air-to-air missile, which conducts a series of sharp maneuvers and explodes after, presumably, hitting its target.  

“Wow, [it got] shot down!” a woman can be heard as saying in the background.  

The video bears a watermark from the Odesa Info Telegram channel and was posted on October 22, 2022. The description, attached to numerous reposts, states that the interception happened over Odesa, and that a Russian cruise missile was shot down.   

However, the quality of the video is not good enough to recognize what kind of target was intercepted.   

Another similar video was posted on October 22 by the Ukraine Now Telegram channel and shows a fighter jet – either a MiG-29 or a Su-27 – launching a missile which veers left and explodes.  

According to the description below the video, it was filmed in Chernivtsi Oblast, southwestern Ukraine.   

A post on the Telegram channel of the head of Chernivtsi Oblast administration Ruslan Zaparaniuk confirmed that an Ukrainian aircraft shot down a missile over Dnistrovskyi district. According to the post, the remains of the missile fell into a lake.

In the morning of October 23, the Ukraine Now Telegram channel posted another video showing a Ukrainian Su-27 closely following a cruise missile. Both the jet and the missile can be glimpsed for a short while.  

The description claims that the video was filmed in Podilsk, a city north of Odesa. 

According to a statement by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on October 22 Russia conducted a cruise missile strike, which involved 17 Kh-55 (X-101) missiles launched by Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers, as well as 16 3M-54 Kalibr missiles launched by ships stationed in the Black Sea.  

Of 23 missiles, 18 were shot down, according to the statement. It is likely that some of these shootdowns were captured in the abovementioned videos. 

On the night of November 1-2, the Russian troops attacked Ukraine from the eastern direction with Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports.

 

“12 out of 13 loitering munitions were destroyed by air defenses in the eastern and central regions of the country,” the Command wrote.

The Air Command East’s air defense gun and missile units, aircraft, and mobile fire teams destroyed six of the Shaheds. Six more were destroyed in the responsibility area of the Air Command Center.

Correspondents of Suspilne reported explosions in Dnipro City at about 23:15. In the morning, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Head Valentyn Reznichenko said that the rumbling that Dnipro residents heard at night was activities of Ukrainian air defenses who shot down six Shaheds in the oblast’s skies.

About midnight, Vitalii Maletskyi, mayor of Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, wrote that “enemy objects” were spotted over the city as air defenses were active.

Reznichenko also reported that the Russian troops also attacked Nikopol and Chervonohryhorivka hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast at night and in the morning with multiple rocket launchers.

According to Cherkasy Oblast Head Ihor Taburets, “Two ‘shaheeds’ were shot down by air defense forces, one hit an infrastructure object.”