Ihnat: Most cruise missiles in today’s Russian attack intercepted by F-16 pilots
The vast majority of Russian missiles during the enemy attack on the night of December 23 were intercepted by F-16 pilots. At the same time, the number of missiles for air defense systems and air-to-air missiles from Western partners is not sufficient to meet Ukraine's current needs.
According to Ukrinform, this was stated on television by Yuriy Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command.
"The vast majority [of missiles] were intercepted by tactical aviation pilots. It was F-16 pilots who joined in repelling this cruise missile strike today. I want to emphasize that missiles, both air-to-air and those that our air defense systems use, are pretty scarce for us right now. Everyone emphasizes this—pilots say so in their interviews, and so does the top military leadership. The President of Ukraine, in particular, emphasized to partners the need (he spoke about this just recently) to strengthen air defense with both complexes and missiles. This is because some complexes are essentially without them. And so, thanks to the fact that missiles, both for aircraft and ground-based systems, are not arriving in the quantities we would like, of course, but are arriving nonetheless, we are able to repel such attacks today," Ihnat said.
According to the spokesman, in addition to F-16s, Mirage, MiG-29, Su-27, interceptor drones, and mobile fire groups also repelled air strikes.
He also noted that the vast majority of enemy strikes are directed at energy infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine and port infrastructure in the Odesa region.
In addition, Ignat added that analysis of missile and Shahed debris shows that the enemy is using weapons that are literally rolling off the assembly line.
“The debris from the Shaheds is being studied, as is the debris from the missiles. And from that debris, it is even clear that the enemy is delivering the missiles straight from the assembly line to their vehicles, whether ships or aircraft, and launching them,” he said.
Ihnat recalled that during the recent strike on Ternopil, the enemy launched a missile that was manufactured in the third quarter of this year.
"Therefore, based on these facts, we can conclude that the enemy is constantly manufacturing missiles. The Ukrainian government constantly emphasizes the sanctions goods that end up ... in missiles, drones, and enemy aircraft [as parts]. Many countries and many manufacturing companies from Europe and the United States, unfortunately, are involved ... in the manufacture of Russian weapons," the military official said.
As reported by Ukrinform, since the evening of December 22, during Russia's massive air attack on Ukraine, the Defense Forces have neutralized 635 of 673 air attack weapons, including almost all cruise missiles.