Explosions, anti-aircraft fire and howling flight alarms after bedtime have become relatively common sounds in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Also on the night of Friday, the city’s residents were asked to seek cover in shelters,
A drone attack is underway, stated Kyiv Governor Oleksij Kuleba, shortly after 01:00 Norwegian time.
– Night attack with martyr drones. Russia has once again made our infrastructure a target for attack, says Kuleba in a new update on Friday morning.
Last night, the governor urged residents of the capital to seek cover in shelters. In the morning he says that no one was injured, and that the drones had been shot down.
BOMB ROOM: People sit on the escalator in a subway station being used as a shelter during an attack in Kyiv. The picture is from Thursday. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky
– Does not reach forward
The Ukrainian Air Force claims they shot down 16 Russian drones last night. The day before, the Russians carried out extensive missile attacks against a number of cities in the country.
But the attacks are not as effective as Russia probably hopes:
– It doesn’t look like they are succeeding to a very large extent. All the numbers we get indicate that Ukraine shoots down most of the missiles. So most of them don’t make it, says associate professor Lars Peder Haga at the Luftkrigsskolen to TV 2 on Friday morning.
– But it is clear, when there is a flight alert every night and you have to go in and out of shelters, it puts stress on the population. It must be terribly tiring. There, Russia achieves what they are probably trying to: to put pressure on the Ukrainian civilian population, Haga continues.
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May run out of weapons
The flight alert on the night of Friday was triggered the day after Russia had carried out one of the largest air strikes since the start of the war in February.
In recent months, the Russian military has periodically carried out major airstrikes against several Ukrainian cities at the same time. Many have therefore speculated whether they may run out of missiles.
Shoots down missile – cheers wildly
– If there is someone who has exact figures on how many missiles Russia has left, they will certainly not share it openly, says Haga at the Air Force Academy.
– But I think we can say with certainty that they have used missiles at a much higher rate than they are able to produce. They are going to have trouble carrying out such large attacks as frequently. Of course, that limit is only getting closer and closer.
If Russia is unable to keep up the pressure, and the frequency of the attacks decreases, it can largely resort to what Haga describes as an attrition strategy.
– Then Ukraine can repair and find solutions to what is being destroyed. That will ease the pressure, Haga points out.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address that 54 Russian rockets and 11 drones were shot down in the attacks on Thursday.
PRESIDENT: Volodymyr Zelenskyi December 20 this year. Photo: Photo by STRINGER / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP
He also says that there are power cuts in most of the country’s regions. The situation is particularly difficult in the capital, in Odesa and Kherson and the surrounding areas, as well as the areas around the city of Lviv near the country’s border with Poland, he stated.
– But this is nothing compared to what could have happened had it not been for our heroic anti-aircraft forces and the air force, said the president.
The “heroic forces”, as President Zelenskyj calls them, also receive good help from arms deliveries from Western countries. They allow the Ukrainians to continue as before, shooting down a high percentage of the missiles Russia sends.
– We would probably see the greatest effect if new weapons had not come in. Then more missiles would penetrate the air defences, says Lars Peder Haga.
American shield on the way
Now Ukraine is also waiting for the US Patriot system, which is a missile shield the US has promised to send. It will allow the Ukrainians to continue to protect themselves, and give them more missiles to play with.
– The Russians will not have the collapse they want, where Ukraine would run out of missiles, and Russia can therefore attack freely also with attack aircraft further into the country, says Haga.
Fighting the flames after Russian missile rain
– The Russian fighter air force does not have the ability to escape Ukrainian air defenses. It is too dangerous for the Russian fighter air force, he continues.
On the ground, Haga says that the war’s lines are now stable.
– But if the Ukrainians see an opportunity, they will probably try where they see that the Russians are weak.
