Russia attacks Ukraine with 178 drones overnight, targets energy infrastructure

Ukrainian defense forces intercepted 130 out of the 178 Russian attack drones launched at Ukraine during an overnight assault on March 14 that included attacks on energy infrastructure.

The attack involved two Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched from Kursk Oblast and 178 Shahed-type attack drones along with various decoy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to Ukraine's Air Force.  

The wave of attacks began at 7:30 p.m. local time on March 14 and continued throughout the night. Russia launched the drones from multiple locations including Orel, Millerovo, Kursk, Bryansk, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as Chauda in occupied Crimea.

The Air Force reported that it shot down 130 Shahed-type strike drones and other UAVs over fourteen Ukrainian regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

An additional 38 Russian decoy drones were reported "locationally lost" without causing any damage.

The attack caused damage in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions. Officials have yet to release information about casualties or details of the damage entailed. Reports indicate that the Russian attack hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa Oblast.

Russia has been steadily expanding its air campaigns against Ukraine in recent months, with bombardments by flocks of Shahed drones a nightly occurrence.

Ukraine has recently had some success in counterattacks. On the night of March 10, over 330 Ukrainian drones made it to Moscow. Subsequent strikes have hit Russia's fossil fuel infrastructure.