Ukrainian forces down 47 Russian drones, 24 veer off course

The Ukrainian Air Force announced this in a Telegram post, Ukrinform reports.

Starting at 19:00 on January 1, the Russian military launched an aerial attack involving 72 Shahed strike drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk.

In response, Ukraine deployed aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire teams to repel the assault.

By 08:30 on January 2, Ukrainian forces had downed 47 drones across multiple regions, including Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv.

Additionally, 24 enemy simulator drones were diverted from their course due to active countermeasures, rendering them ineffective.

One UAV remains in Ukrainian airspace.