On the night of 23 February, Russian forces launched a massive attack on Ukraine, deploying 267 Shahed attack drones and various imitator UAVs, along with three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles. This was reported by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the military, the attack originated from multiple directions, including Oryol, Bryansk, Kursk, Shatalovo, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, and Chauda in occupied Crimea.
The assault was repelled by Ukrainian aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare teams, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defence Forces.
As of 08:00, air defence units had destroyed 138 Shahed and other types of drones over Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Additionally, 119 enemy imitator drones were lost without causing any harm. Three of them flew towards Belarus, while one headed back into Russia.
The attack resulted in damage across Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Poltava, Kyiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Information regarding casualties and destruction is being clarified.