HISTORY

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INFO Eduard

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service

Russian ships launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities.

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service

Boosting the air defense

Such attacks continued throughout the rest

of the month. If by chance there was a lull

for a few days, another large wave of kamikaze drones and cruise missiles would

soon arrive. Despite the partial successes

of the air defense, some of the projectiles

always get through, and Ukraine’s energy

infrastructure is being systematically destructed. The result is widespread power,

water and heating cuts.

However, one of the consequences of the

massive Russian attacks is the acceleration of the delivery of air defense systems

from the West. Germany announced early

deliveries immediately after the first major airstrike on October 10 and by Saturday

October 15 the first of the four promised

IRIS-T systems was already in Ukraine.

The IRIS-T missiles were developed by

a German-led group of NATO states as

a replacement for the Sidewinder missiles. First appearing as an air-to-air missile in 2005, they developed a surface-to-air version in 2015. Ukraine received the

IRIS-T SLM version with a range of 40 km

and altitude reach up to 20 km. In addition

to aircraft, it can destroy cruise missiles,

ground target missiles and has a high success rate against maneuvering drones.

The system was immediately deployed in

southern Ukraine, making it the first country in the world to use it operationally.

Deliveries of the new NASAMS anti-aircraft systems have also been accelerated by the United States. Two of the eight

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service

occupying the Kherson and Zaporozhye

regions were also supplied this way. The

subsequent Russian attacks on Ukrainian

towns and cities could more accurately be

described as terrorism. On Monday, October 10, during the morning rush hour, Kiev

and other major cities across the country,

from Kharkiv to Lviv, were the target of

a massive attack. The Russians used cruise missiles, but mainly Iranian Shahed-136

kamikaze drones. In total, they fired about

90 of them. More than half of them were

defused by Ukrainian air defenses. A video has even emerged in which one Shahed-136 was shot down by a police unit

with Kalashnikovs.

The first attacks came during the morning rush hour, when people were going

to work and children were going to school.

Power stations and electricity substations

were mainly hit, causing power outages in

several cities. Water also stopped flowing

as pumps were left without electricity. In

addition, 'strategic' targets such as the

playground, the crossroads in front of the

university, the pedestrian bridge and the

German consulate building were also hit.

At least three cruise missiles fired from

ships in the Black Sea flew over the territory of Moldova, which therefore summoned the Russian ambassador.

Russian 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) system.

December 2022