Wednesday evening here on the east coast of the United States, word began coming in at about 8:30 PM EST that an utterly massive missile attack by Russia had begun hitting Ukraine. All reports are now confirmed. Russia appears to have launched the largest missile attack to date since hostilities began a year ago.
It began with Air Raid alerts in much of central Ukraine, as seen in the alert map below:
Minutes later, confirmation that 6-7 Tu-22M Strategic Bombers reported Airborne over the Sea of Azov. Air launched cruise missiles became the worry.
It quickly became clear that Russia was using Shahid drones first to overwhelm the Air Defenses and then cruise missiles would follow.
Word then came in confirming:
- 15 Tu-95 Strategic Bombers Airborne
- 6-7 Tu-22 Strategic Bombers Airborne
- At least 3 Russian Missile Carriers in the Black Sea - Multiple Shahed-136 Drone launches
Within minutes Air Raid Sirens began sounding over all of Ukraine.
Here is how the reports came in -- while I was on the air broadcasting . . . .
Dnipro. Unmanned aerial vehicle of the Shahed type. Air Defenses Activated.
Then Cruise Missiles confirmed to have been launched from the Black Sea towards Ukraine.
Explosions are heard in Odessa subscribers report.
Missiles seen moving in the direction of Vinnitsa and Kropivnitsky.
Missile(s) reported over Mykolaiv oblast.
Missiles then seen over the Vinnytsia Region heading towards Western Ukraine, confirmed to be Caliber cruise missile.
Reports of missile(s) heading towards Vinnytsia oblast. Explosions noted in Mykolaiv oblast.
Cruise missiles reported over the Kherson region towards Kiev.
Ukrainian Air Defense along the Black Sea are working hard to Intercept as many Cruise Missiles as they can.
Air defense activity reported in Mykolaiv oblast. Reports of missiles being shot down.
CONTINUED . . .
Explosions in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
"Due to the threat of a missile attack in Odessa and the region, emergency electricity shutdowns were introduced"
More explosions in Dnipro and Mykolaiv over the last few moments.
Initial reports of Russian Cruise Missiles fired from the Black Sea spotted over Moldova heading towards Western Ukraine.
Missiles from the Black Sea towards Ukraine.
Air raid sirens sounding in Kyiv and surrounding regions. Reports of Shahed drones airborne in addition to 10x Tu-95 bombers. Missile launches are possible.
Ukrainian jets have taken off in Kyiv. This is usually done to intercept missiles.
Reports of up to 15 Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers possibly carrying air-launched cruise missiles heading to launch points. If confirmed could be largest cruise missile attack of the war.
More missiles now in the direction of Zaporizhia and Vinnytsia.
Repeated explosions, Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev regions.
Missile towards Kryvyi Rih reported.
Missile reported in the direction of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine.
Now missiles in the direction of Odeshchyna.
Explosions reported in Zaporozhye.
Missiles now reported over the City of Kryvyi Rih in Southern Central Ukraine.
I went on like this for over an hour.
At least 6 waves of missile launches hit Ukraine. Concensus is that tonight was the largest missile strike by Russia against Ukraine since hostilities began.
VERY HEAVY DAMAGE to Ukraine.
UPDATE 7:40 AM EST (THURSDAY)
More waves of Russian missiles hit Ukraine overnight. Iskander ballistic missiles were reportedly fired from several areas inside Russia, into Ukraine.
Dnipro. Kharkiv. Khmelnytsky. Ivano-Frankivsk. Lviv. Odesa. Poltava. Ternopil. Zaporizhzhia. Zhytomyr. Massive Russian attacks - planes, drones, missiles. Explosions for Four hours long already.
