Over the past 5 days, Ukraine has been attacked by more than 500 missiles and UAVs, with one of the attacks becoming the largest in world history. Find out how the country survived the combined massive shelling with the use of hypersonic weapons

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The intensity of missile attacks on Ukrainian territories is increasing. On the eve of the New Year, russia began launching combined attacks using various types of missiles and attack UAVs, and in early 2024, it carried out the largest attack in world history using hypersonic weapons. Thus, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine has been attacked by at least 500 missiles and UAVs over the past 5 days.

How is russia attacking Ukraine?

On December 29, the largest combined attack on Ukraine in the entire war took place. In total, russia fired 158 weapons at Ukraine, including missiles of various types and attack UAVs. According to Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the Ukrainian air force destroyed most of them, namely: 27 Shaheds and 87 X-101, X-555 and X-55 cruise missiles. Kyiv suffered the most.

On New Year's Eve, russia attacked Ukraine with at least 90 UAVs. The next attack took place in the afternoon on January 1. And on January 2, Ukraine suffered the largest hypersonic attack in world history. Taras Chmut, a military expert and head of the Come Back Alive Foundation, noted that the number of aeroballistic missiles launched on January 2 was the first in the world. No country in the world has ever fought with such weapons before, and Ukrainian air defense successfully repelled the attack, shooting down 10 out of 10 hypersonic missiles. 

In total, at least 99 air attack vehicles were spotted in the Ukrainian sky on January 2. Ukrainian air defense destroyed 72 air targets: 10 "Kynzhaliv", 59 out of 70 X-101/X-555/X-55 cruise missiles, and 3 out of 3 "Kalibr" missiles. In addition, before launching the missiles, russia launched 35 more attack UAVs, all of which were successfully destroyed by air defense.

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Consequences of missile attacks on Ukraine

The capital of Ukraine, as well as Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, and Kirovohrad regions, suffered the most from the attacks. According to Zelenskyy, at least 120 people were injured on January 2, and 5 more were killed. More than 500 rescuers from the State Emergency Service, utilities, power engineers, and police were involved in the aftermath of the russian shelling.

Photo: Mykola Kalashnyk, a sinkhole in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv

Photo: SES, aftermath of the attack, Kharkiv

Photo: SES, aftermath of the attack, Kyiv region 

Photo: libkos, Kyiv

Missile fragments caused fires and destruction in Holosiivskyi, Solomianskyi, Desnianskyi, Darnytskyi districts, as well as in Obolon, Podil, Pechersk, and Sviatoshyno. In addition, the Boryspil, Bucha and Fastiv districts of Kyiv region were affected.

In Kharkiv, russia attacked the city center - Shevchenkivskyi district. Fires broke out in Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions as a result of the fall of missile and UAV debris.

Destroyed village in Voronezh region: what is known?

During an air attack on the territory of Ukraine, one of the russian cruise missiles launched from Tu-95 MS aircraft missed its target and fell directly on houses in the village of Petropavlivka. The russian authorities called it an "abnormal munition misfire."

"Today, an accidental munition was recorded in the Ostroh district. There were no casualties, but damage was recorded in seven households," wrote the governor of the Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev.

And, as you know, this is not the first case of an "accidental fall" in russia. Last year, a similar situation occurred in the Belgorod region. A bomb from a Su-34 destroyed a street and houses around it, creating a 20-meter-long crater at an intersection.

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We remind you! Western air defense systems have turned Kyiv into a surprisingly safe city despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. Read what air defense systems protect the capital and what other cities in Ukraine are safe for Ukrainians and foreigners in our previous article.

Main photo: Getty Images

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