Russia Launches Massive Air Assault Against Ukraine With Over 340 Missiles And Drones

Russian forces launched a large-scale coordinated aerial assault across Ukraine overnight on February 22, utilizing nearly 300 strike drones and 50 missiles of various types.

According to the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the attack primarily targeted critical energy infrastructure and residential areas in the Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Poltava regions.

Data released by the Ukrainian Air Force indicated that a total of 345 aerial threats were detected. The Russian arsenal included four Zircon anti-ship missiles, 22 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles, 18 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and 297 drones.

The unmanned fleet consisted of Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas models, with approximately 200 identified as Shahed-type loitering munitions.

Ukrainian air defense units, including aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, and electronic warfare units, reported intercepting 307 targets.

This included two Zircon missiles, 17 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and 274 drones. Despite the high interception rate, authorities confirmed 14 missile strikes and 23 drone impacts across 14 different locations.

In the Kyiv region, the Regional Military Administration reported that the attack affected five districts. In the Fastiv district, a 49-year-old man died from injuries sustained during the shelling.

Emergency services rescued eight people from under the rubble of destroyed homes in the same area. In the suburb of Kyiv, a woman and a child were hospitalized following debris falls in a residential sector.

The Odesa region faced heavy strikes directed at energy facilities. According to Oleh Kiper, head of the Regional Military Administration, the attacks caused large-scale fires at infrastructure sites. While the fires were eventually extinguished by the State Emergency Service, the extent of the damage to the power grid is still being assessed.

In Mykolaiv, regional head Vitaliy Kim confirmed that drone strikes damaged energy infrastructure, leaving approximately 16,000 residents without electricity. Similarly, in the Cherkasy region, officials reported that while most threats were neutralized, blast waves damaged windows in at least five residential buildings.

The scale of the Russian long-range aviation activity prompted a military response from neighboring Poland. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces announced that it had scrambled fighter jets and an early warning radar aircraft within its airspace as a preventive measure.

“The Polish and allied aviation began operations in our airspace,” the command stated on X, citing the activity of Russian strategic bombers as the cause for heightened readiness.

As of Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities continued to verify the full extent of the damage and casualties across the country, as emergency crews worked to restore power and clear debris from the affected sites.

Earlier on February 19, a Russian drone struck a private farm in the village of Dvorichnyi Kut in the Kharkiv region, injuring a worker and killing about 100 pigs, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. The attack damaged the roof of a farm building and sparked a fire covering around 40 square meters, with emergency crews and sappers deployed to the scene to extinguish the blaze and assess the aftermath.

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