Russians launch 137 drones at Ukraine: Air Force details overnight attack
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 137 strike drones, including Shahed UAVs and decoy drones, in an overnight assault on March 18, according to the Ukrainian Air Force Command.
The drones were launched from various Russian locations—Shatalovo, Kursk, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk—striking from multiple directions.
By 9 AM, the Air Force confirmed the 63 intercepts.
Ukrainian defenses, including anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare teams, and mobile fire groups, downed 63 drones across multiple oblasts: Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Kherson.
An additional 64 decoy drones were lost to radar without causing harm.
Consequences of the attack
Damage was reported in several areas. In Pechenihy, Kharkiv Oblast, two Shahed drones hit a school, igniting the roof and gym, said Oleg Synegubov, head of the regional military administration.
In Poltava’s Lubny district, drone debris damaged the roofs and windows of two private homes and one non-residential building, sparking a grass fire that was extinguished, per the Poltava Oblast Military Administration.
In Dnipro’s Dniprovskyi district, fires broke out at two enterprises due to the attack but were put out, according to regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
In Cherkasy, a warehouse storing food caught fire, and an administrative building at another facility was damaged, said regional head Ihor Taburets.
Sumy Oblast also reported unspecified impacts from the assault.