 Russian Drones Struck Ukrainian Hotel Full Of NATO Instructors, Airfield, Logistics Hubs Etc
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The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are pounding Ukrainian rear infrastructure with daily massive missile and drone strikes, while the Ukrainian military does not stop targeting Russian energy facilities with variable success.
On the night of March 10th, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted another attack in Russian rear regions. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, nine Ukrainian drones were destroyed by Russian air defense during the night. They included:
three UAVs in the Samara region;
two UAVs in the Voronezh region;
two UAVs in the Oryol region;
one UAV in the Belgorod region;
one UAV in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian attack was not massive, but some of the drones managed to break through Russian air defense deep in the Russian rear area. According to the governor of the Samara region, three Ukrainian UAVs targeted industrial facilities in the town of Novokyibishevsk located on the southern outskirts of Samara, about 900 kilometers away from the border. The local authorities did not reveal what exact facilities could be the target of the attack. The local sources supposed that the main target of the strikes could be one of the largest enterprises of the production of gas processing, petrochemicals and organic synthesis products, owned by Rosneft, located in the town. The attack was repelled. Three Ukrainian drones were destroyed inflicting no damage. There was also no damage reported in other Russian regions.
The Ukrainian military decreased the intensity of drone strikes on the Russian territory in recent weeks. Attacks with NATO missiles were also suspended, probably as a result of Washington’s decision to stop military supplies and sharing its reconnaissance data with the Ukrainian military. In their turn, Russian forces continue increasing the intensity of its constant strikes, inflicting heavy damage throughout Ukraine.
According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian forces launched 176 UAVs last night. Ukrainian air defense allegedly destroyed 130 Russian drones, 42 decoys disappeared inflicting no damage. The Ukrainian military officially confirmed damage in the Kharkiv, Poltava and Kiev regions.
However, numerous Russian strikes with drones of various types, missiles, including Iskander, Kh-69, upgraded heavy bombs were recorded in the Donbass as well as in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporozhie, Kherson, Kiev, Chernihiv, Kremenchug, Poltava, Cherkassy, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa and Mykolaiv regions yesterday day and night.
On the night of March 10th, Russian forces attacked the critical infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Geran-2 UAVs. The targets included repair bases, logistics hubs, fuel storage facilities and infrastructure of military airfield.
The capital region of Ukraine came under a massive attack. Russian strikes were recorded in Vasilkov, Bucha, Boyarka, Brovary, Vyshgorod as well as in the city of Kiev. At least three Russian kamikaze UAVs struck the territory of the military airfield in Vasilkov. As a result of the strikes, the control system of flight routes of Ukrainian and foreign UAVs was damaged, together with the communication system that coordinated the work of UAV units was, and two mobile charging and testing stations for UAVs were disabled.
According to local reports, Russian drones also destroyed depots with weapons from NATO in Brovary.
At least two Russian kamikaze drones struck the 81th support center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the town of Konstantinovka in the Mykolaiv region. The attacked facilities provided for the accumulation and provision of fuel to Ukrainian units on the southern frontlines. As a result of the drone strikes, a large fire broke out in the area, inflicting heavy damage to the local refueling and distribution systems, pumping stations, and fuel depot.
On the evening of March 9th, a series of explosions thundered on the outskirts of Mykolaiv. According to local reports, Russian drones struck another hotel full of Ukrainian servicemen and foreign military instructors in the village of Balovnoe located near the local airport. The hotel came under five strikes. According to unconfirmed reports, about 30 servicemen were killed, including foreigners. The victims could be Ukrainian pilots trained by military instructors from the West.
Thea eastern border regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkassy are heavily pounded by Russian strikes non stop, because there are large Ukrainian forces accumulated. New wave of Russian strikes were recorded in Sumy, Ahtyrka, Chuguev, Zmiev, Balakleya, Kharkiv, Nezhin.
Russian Drones Struck Ukrainian Hotel Full Of NATO Instructors, Airfield, Logistics Hubs Etc
Damage in Balakleya
At least two Russian Geran-2 kamikaze UAVs destroyed the repair base and parking of military vehicles hidden on the territory of the Agronom agricultural enterprise in Verhnezoryanske in the Kharkiv region.
More Russian drones struck the territory of the poultry farm used as a temporary deployment point for logistics units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The facility housed rear units that provided transportation of food, engineering equipment and ammunition.
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In Video: Russian Ka-52 Helicopter Intercepts Large Ukrainian Suicide Drone
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A video posted to social networks on March 9 showed a Ka-52 attack helicopter of the Russian military intercepting a light aircraft that had been converted into a suicide drone by Kiev forces over an unspecified part of the special military operation zone.
The helicopter was able to take down the drone with a few rounds from its mobile semi-rigid 30 mm Shipunov 2A42 cannon.
Kiev forces used modified light aircraft as suicide drones on several occasions over the past year, with a very low success rate.
The Russian military began using attack helicopters to intercept Ukrainian drones shortly after the start of the special military operation, but the use of this tactic appears to have expanded in recent months.
Helicopters can fly at low altitudes and speeds which make them very suitable for intercepting drones. In addition, Russian attack helicopters, like the Ka-52, are equipped with advanced electro-optical systems that are capable of detecting such small aerial systems.
In addition to its Shipunov 2A42 cannon, the Ka-52 can be armed with Igla-V heat-seeking air-to-air missiles to hunt down drones and other aerial objects. The helicopters’ primary anti-tank weapon, the 9K121 Vikhr laser-guided missile, can be also used to engage such slow moving aerial targets.
The rate of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory increased over the past year. Nevertheless, these attacks are becoming less and less effective, mainly due to the efforts of Russia’s air defenses and electronic warfare means.
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In Video: Russian Iskander-M Missile Smokes Ukrainian HIMARS Launcher
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The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on March 8 that another American-made M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launcher of Kiev forces had been destroyed.
In a brief statement, the ministry said that an Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile hit a camouflaged position where the HIMARS launcher was parked near the settlement of Novonikolayevka, some 26 kilometers to the east of the city of Nikolayev.
The missile strike destroyed the launcher along with a loader and ammunition and claimed the lives of ten Ukrainian troops, the ministry added.
The Iskander-M, which has a range of nearly 500 kilometers, which can be armed with different conventional warheads, including a cluster munitions warhead, a fuel–air explosive enhanced-blast warhead, a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, an earth penetrator for bunker busting and an electromagnetic pulse device for anti-radar missions.
The highly-maneuverable missile is guided by a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. It can be also equipped with an optical seeker with a digitized scene-mapping area correlator system for terminal guidance.
Since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the United States has supplied Kiev forces with at least 39 HIMARS launchers. Last year, Germany promised to buy three more for Kiev forces.
These launchers are typically armed with M30/M31 series GMLRS GPS-guided rockets, which have a range of more than 70 kilometers, or MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles with a range between 165 and 300 kilometers depending on the version.
HIMARS launchers had some effect on the situation in the special military operation zone when they first entered service with Kiev forces in mid-2022. However, their threat was quickly neutralized by the combination of Russian air defenses and electronic warfare.
Now, most of the launchers supplied to Ukraine have been either destroyed or damaged by the Russian military, mostly using Iskander-M missiles.
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