Ukrainian air defence intercepted more than 90% of drones in March despite record attacks – Defence Ministry
Ukraine’s air defence demonstrated consistently high effectiveness in repelling Russia’s mass attacks in March 2026, intercepting more than 90% of drones.
As reported by Censor.NET, this was announced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
According to the military, the enemy continued to use attrition tactics against air defence, combining missile and drone strikes and carrying out attacks in waves.
How air defence performed
Over the course of March, about 6,600 aerial targets were recorded, significantly more than in February, when there were more than 5,300.
Ukrainian air defence forces managed to neutralise 5,935 targets.
In particular:
– of 6,463 Shahed-type drones and other UAVs, 5,833 were intercepted, accounting for 90.25%;
– of 138 missiles, 102 were destroyed, for an effectiveness rate of nearly 74%.
The overall interception rate for aerial targets stood at 89.9%.
Largest attacks
The most intense drone attack took place on March 24, when the enemy launched nearly 1,000 UAVs in a single day. Despite this, Ukrainian defenders destroyed or neutralised 94.6% of the targets.
The largest missile attack occurred on March 14, when 58 of 68 missiles were intercepted. On the same day, the enemy launched 430 drones, more than 400 of which were neutralised.
What helped achieve the result
The Defence Ministry says the high results were made possible by the coordinated work of aviation, air defence systems, and electronic warfare (EW) assets.
This makes it possible not only to destroy targets, but also to effectively reduce the burden on the system, including through drones being lost from radar without causing adverse effects.
