Russia attacks Ukraine with 145 drones and ballistic missiles after Trump-Putin talks on ceasefire
The Russians attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, four S-300 surface-to-air missiles, 145 Shahed attack UAVs and decoy drones of various types on the night of 18-19 March. Ukraine's air defence has downed 72 attack drones, while 45 drones targeted Kyiv Oblast.
Source: Ukraine’s Air Force; Kyiv City Military Administration
Details: The targets were launched from the Russian cities of Bryansk, Oryol, Shatalovo, Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk.
As of 08:00, 72 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones have been confirmed downed in Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa oblasts.
A total of 56 Russian decoy drones disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).
Kyiv City Military Administration reported that 45 Russian drones had been recorded approaching Kyiv and in the capital's airspace. Ukraine's air defence downed 19 unmanned aerial vehicles. The rest disappeared from radar or left the airspace.
Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts were under attack.
The Air Force and other Ukrainian defence forces used aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups to repel the assault.
Commenting on the Russian nighttime attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised that such Kremlin actions are a response to international peace initiatives and demonstrate Russia's unwillingness to end the war. "Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire," Zelenskyy said.
Background:
- US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation on 18 March which lasted over an hour and a half.
- The Kremlin press service reported that, following the call between Trump and Putin, the Russian side insisted that foreign military assistance and the sharing of intelligence information to Ukraine should be stopped.
- During a phone conversation, Trump and Putin agreed that peace negotiations regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war will "begin immediately in the Middle East".
- The Kremlin, in turn, stated that during his conversation with Trump, Putin had once again rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire but instead agreed to refrain from attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, "issuing the relevant order to the Russian military".
- However, Russia conducted a large-scale kamikaze drone attack on the night of 18-19 March, striking civilian infrastructure in several Ukrainian oblasts.
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