Balloons were seen over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv (Kiev) before the country was struck by dozens of missiles, officials say.
The Ukrainian army said six “apparently radar-reflecting balloons” were seen over Kyiv a day before 36 cruise missiles were launched at targets across the country on Thursday, according to a report co-authored by BBC weapons analyst Chris Partridge.
Balloons are also said to have been spotted over eastern Ukraine in “recent days”, with Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat telling the BBC that they “could carry radar reflectors and certain reconnaissance equipment” and speculating that they were “launched to detect and exhaust our air defence forces.”
Most of the “wind-powered” devices over Kyiv were reportedly shot down, with the BBC implying that their purpose could be to “confuse radar systems and entice the Ukrainian military into launching very expensive surface-to air-missiles” — although Ihnat claimed that at least two balloons were downed with bullets after being recognised.
Balloons are suddenly much in the news after the Joe Biden administration in the United States stumbled by allowing a spy craft from Communist China to hover over the country for days before belatedly ordering it shot down — an incident suddenly followed by a large number of similar shootdowns of other balloons and unidentified flying objects.
The 36 air and sea-launched missiles launched the BBC reported as having been launched against Ukraine on Thursday were said to have killed civilians and “hit critical infrastructure”, citing Ukrainian officials.
A report by Ukrainian state media outlet Ukrinform suggested the scale of the missile strikes was somewhat greater, however, with “41 missiles of various types” launched, including five modified S-300 air defence missiles which targeted Kharkiv (Kharkov).
Ukrinform said Russian forces has also carried out 24 air strikes and more than 50 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) strikes, and that “containers with oil products” were among the “damaged” targets.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainians remain bullish, boasting that their forces “continue to master” Patriot air defence systems being transferred to their country by the West, and reporting that they will begin producing “hundreds” of machine gun-equipped Toyota off-road vehicles to deal with threats like drones in the Czech Republic, with Dutch funding.
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