Sept. 10, 2024, 12:24 p.m.
(Photo collage: Intent)
On the night of September 10, Zmeinyi Island in Odesa region was targeted by a missile attack from Russian aircraft.
According to the South Operational Command, a Russian aircraft fired an X-31 missile at the island.
The military did not say whether the missile reached its target, but noted that during the night, the air defense of southern Ukraine shot down five Shahed-136/131 attack drones.
The Kh-31 is a Soviet and now Russian tactical air-to-surface guided missile with a medium range for fighter aircraft such as the MiG-29 and Su-27, but is also used from Su-24, Su-34, Su-35, and MiG-31 aircraft. There are anti-ship (Kh-31A) and anti-radar (Kh-31P) versions of the missiles.
In turn, the Air Force Command of Ukraine reported that on the night of September 10, the Air Force's radio engineering troops detected 48 air attack vehicles. The Russian occupiers struck with an Iskander-M ballistic missile from the occupied Crimea, an X-31P anti-radar missile from the airspace over the Black Sea, which was apparently used to target Zmiinyi, and 46 Shahed-type attack UAVs.
As a result of the air battle, 38 attack drones were shot down. In addition, three drones left the controlled airspace of Ukraine, one in the direction of Russia and two in the direction of the occupied Luhansk region. Three more enemy UAVs were lost on the territory of Ukraine (presumably, they fell under the influence of electronic warfare).
Air defense systems were operating in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Cherkasy, Sumy, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Poltava regions.
At the end of August, the Russians also attacked Zmeinyi Island with a missile, but it was an X-22 designed to fight aircraft carriers.