Russian air defense forces shot down 14 HIMARS MLRS shells and 71 Ukrainian UAVs in 24 hours

Air defense forces shot down 14 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and 71 drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) over the day. This was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry on January 9.

"The air defense means shot down a guided aerial bomb Hammer produced by France, 14 rockets of multiple-launch rocket launcher system HIMARS produced by the United States and 71 unmanned aerial vehicles of aircraft type," the ministry said in a statement.

In addition, the Ukrainian army lost up to 510 servicemen, as well as five armored combat vehicles in the zone of the grouping of troops "Center" during the day.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation (SMO), the military of the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation destroyed 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, over 39.7 thousand drones, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, more than 20 thousand tanks and other armored combat vehicles, as well as more than 1.5 thousand combat vehicles of multiple rocket launchers, more than 20 thousand field artillery and mortars and more than 30 thousand special military vehicles.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that overnight air defense forces intercepted 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Russian territory. It is noted that five drones were destroyed over the territory of the Belgorod region, nine over the territory of the Krasnodar region and one over the Bryansk region.

Ukrainian militants are trying to strike Russian territories against the background of the special operation in Donbass, the beginning of which was announced on February 24, 2022. The decision was taken due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.