F-16 and Mirage fighters shot down missiles over Kiev, we need more Patriot missiles

On the night of April 24, Russian troops launched a combined massive attack on Ukraine, including Kiev, using various missiles. The attack was repelled by Ukrainian pilots of Western F-16 and Mirage fighters. This was stated by Yuri Ignat, head of the "Communications" department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, UNIAN reports.

"The enemy focused on Kiev... Today there was a combined attack with various means of air attack from different directions. Cruise missiles launched from the air, ballistic missiles launched from the air, from the ground and from the sea...“, he stated.

According to him, the Ukrainian armed forces managed to shoot down 7 “Iskander-M/KN-23“ ballistic missiles, over 30 cruise missiles, including 6 “Caliber“, and others.

“This is a pretty good result. Of course, there are also terrible consequences... Launching ballistic missiles at cities with a population of a million is not just a crime, it is terrorism. It is difficult to imagine what would have happened if these ballistic missiles launched at Kiev had reached their target... Many human lives were saved," Ignat emphasizes.

He states that aviation, in particular the pilots of F-16 and Mirage aircraft, who showed “good results“ - several dozen air targets were shot down by Ukrainian pilots.

Ignat does not specify which targets and how many of them were destroyed by the F-16 and Mirage fighters, but emphasized that their effectiveness was high.

“Unfortunately, aviation cannot work with ballistics. That's why we have the Patriot systems, which are already known to everyone... Such a system can only work on ballistics within a radius of several tens of kilometers," he explains.

The military adds that there is an echeloned air defense system, each echelon has its own purpose, its own purpose, and accordingly the air defense system must be expanded with various means, including interceptor drones.

According to Ignat, experts will investigate the specifics of this night attack, including the fact that Russia launched certain missiles at night, and not in the morning, as was the case before.