Almost all Russian missiles intercepted by F-16 pilots overnight

The overwhelming majority of Russian cruise missiles during Russia's attack on the night of 22-23 December were intercepted by pilots of F-16 fighter jets. The Air Force stresses that missiles for air defence systems and air-to-air missiles supplied by partners are not arriving in the quantities Ukraine needs to counter Russian aggression.

Source: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, head of communications for the Air Force of Ukraine

Quote: "You can see the extremely high effectiveness of air defence operations, because the Kinzhal missiles, although not intercepted by Patriots, did not reach their targets.

Out of 35 cruise missiles, 34 were shot down, mainly by F-16 aircraft intercepting these missiles, for which we thank our brave pilots."

Details: Ihnat stressed that both aviation air-to-air and air defence systems missiles are currently a rather scarce commodity for the Air Force.

"Everyone is emphasising this: pilots speak about it in their interviews, and senior military leadership does as well. The president of Ukraine, in particular, has stressed to partners the need (he spoke about this quite recently) to strengthen air defence both with systems themselves and with missiles. Because some systems are standing idle with no missiles at all," the Air Force spokesperson noted.

Background:

• On the night of 22-23 December, Russian troops conducted a combined strike on Ukraine's critical infrastructure, using a total of 673 attack UAVs and air- and ground-launched missiles.
• As of 11:30, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that air defence had shot down or jammed 621 Russian aerial targets.

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