Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and North Korean missiles. Air defense forces shot down 53 BpLA

On the night of August 11, Russia attacked Ukraine with four KN-23 ballistic missiles and 57 Shahed attack drones. Air defense forces managed to destroy 53 drones.

This was announced by the commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Mykola Oleschuk.

The Russian occupiers launched rockets from the Voronezh region, and drones from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Yeysk and Kursk districts. They also hit Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, probably with rocket artillery.

Mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, aviation, anti-aircraft missile units and means of electronic warfare of the Air Force took part in the air battle.

Anti-aircraft defense worked in the Mykolaiv, Odesa, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, Rivne and Cherkasy regions.

"Regarding Russian strikes with North Korean missiles, I will say the following: KN-23 ballistic missiles, although they rarely reach the desired targets, pose a serious threat to the population," Oleschuk emphasized.

KN-23 is a missile manufactured by North Korea. Its official name is Hwasong-11Ga. From the outside, it is similar to the Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile and the South Korean Hyunmoo-2B. Like the Iskander-M, it has a quasi-ballistic trajectory: after reaching an altitude of about 50 kilometers, it moves in the atmosphere, where it can adjust its flight path with aerodynamic rudders. The maximum recorded launch range of this missile is up to 690 kilometers, and the warhead weighs 500 kilograms.

• Russian troops first hit Ukraine with North Korean Hwasong-11 (KN-23/24) missiles during large-scale attacks on December 29, 2023 in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, and on January 2 this year in Kharkiv. On February 22, 2024, the SBU confirmed that the Russian Federation had hit Ukraine with a KN-23 — its wreckage had already been analyzed then. KN-23/24 hit Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kharkiv and five front-line villages of Donetsk region. Ukrainian air defense was able to shoot down some of the missiles.