Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine on September 12, firing ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and swarms of drones, with the Odesa region bearing the brunt of the assault, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
Ukrainian air defenses failed to shoot down any of the Iskander-M or KN-23 ballistic missiles used in the strike, the Air Force said. The Iskander-M is a short-range Russian ballistic missile system, and Ukraine has repeatedly said it lacks enough advanced interceptors, such as Patriot systems, to reliably stop this class of weapon.
According to the Air Force, Russian forces also fired eight Kalibr cruise missiles, six Kh-59/69 guided air missiles and 129 attack drones of various types overnight.
What air defense shot down
Ukrainian forces destroyed or suppressed six of the Kalibr cruise missiles, one S8000 Banderol drone, two of the Kh-59/69 guided air missiles, and 101 attack drones, including Shahed and Gerbera types, the Air Force reported. Shahed drones are Iranian-designed loitering munitions that Russia has used extensively throughout the war, often in large overnight waves alongside cruise and ballistic missiles.
In total, as of 8:30 a.m., Ukrainian forces had shot down or suppressed 110 aerial targets, the Air Force said.
Missiles and drones hit 20 locations, and debris from intercepted targets fell in four more, according to the report. The Air Force said the attack was still under way at the time of its statement, with Russian drones remaining in Ukrainian airspace, and it urged residents to follow safety rules.
Casualties in Odesa, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia
The overnight and morning strikes also hit Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, causing deaths and injuries and damaging residential buildings and industrial sites.
In Odesa, 16 people were reported injured and a high-rise apartment building caught fire. In Kryvyi Rih, a strike on an industrial enterprise killed one person and injured two others.
In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian strike killed a 64-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man, while a 59-year-old woman was injured, according to the report.
