Massive Russian attack: ballistic missiles were directed at certain regions, while cruise missiles were aimed at western part of country, - Ihnat
Russia has changed its tactics for massive strikes. Last night, the Russian military deliberately divided its strikes between ballistic and cruise missiles. One cruise missile strayed into Polish territory, where it was shot down by Polish air defense forces.
According to Censor.NET, Yurii Ihnat, head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, reported this during a national television broadcast.
He noted that Russian troops deliberately used different types of missiles in different directions.
Ballistic missiles were used to strike certain regions of Ukraine, while cruise missiles were launched toward the western regions.
Change in attack tactics: one of the cruise missiles strayed into Poland
According to Ihnat, one of the enemy’s cruise missiles strayed into the territory of the Republic of Poland.
"This attack isn’t anything new, so to speak, compared to others, because such attacks have already occurred, where the enemy strikes some regions with ballistic missiles and others with cruise missiles... The enemy planned the strike in such a way as to launch ballistic missiles and missiles flying along a ballistic trajectory... at several regions... while the cruise missiles flew toward the western part of our country," the spokesperson noted.
He confirmed that during the shelling, one of the enemy targets strayed into the territory of a neighboring country, where Polish air defense systems engaged it.
"It was a cruise missile—this has been absolutely confirmed," Ihnat emphasized.
Ukraine is in critical need of Patriot systems to intercept ballistic missiles
According to Ihnat, Ukrainian defenders achieved impressive results in repelling the attack, destroying a significant number of Kh-101 and "Kalibr" cruise missiles.
At the same time, they managed to intercept only one ballistic missile.
The spokesperson emphasized that due to the wide geographic scope of ballistic missile attacks, Ukraine needs additional Patriot systems and ammunition for them.
"As for ballistic missiles, everyone is aware of the problem. We need Patriot systems and, most importantly, missiles for them, since the geographic scope of the ballistic strikes was quite extensive," Ihnat noted.
According to the Air Force, Russia used Iskander-M missiles, S-400 systems, and Zircon anti-ship missiles—which strike targets along a ballistic trajectory—last night. Preliminary reports indicate that two Zircon missiles struck targets in the Vinnytsia region.
Russia is combining different types of missiles to complicate the work of air defense systems
Ihnat explained that the launch directions depend on the flight range of a specific type of weapon. To strike Ukraine’s northern regions, Russian forces are using territories in the Bryansk and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation.
According to him, "Zircon" missiles can be launched both from the temporarily occupied Crimea and from the north.
The spokesperson also noted that Russian forces are simultaneously deploying "Iskander-M" ballistic missiles and anti-aircraft missiles from the S-400 system, which have been repurposed to strike ground targets.
According to Ihnat, this tactic increases the number of ballistic targets in the air and complicates the work of Ukrainian air defense, as it forces the air defense forces to respond to a greater number of missiles simultaneously.
