Russia set a new “record” by deploying nearly a thousand Shahed (Geran-2), Gerbera, and other types of drones against Ukraine in a single day.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to their data, taking into account the nighttime attack from 6:00 PM on March 23 to 6:00 PM on March 24, 2026, the enemy deployed 948 drones. Of these, 556 were launched during the incomplete 24-hour period on March 24.
A significant portion of the drones entered from the north — through the Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
During the day, the scope of the strikes was broader than at night: the Poltava, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Vinnytsia regions came under attack, as well as the western regions of the country — from Khmelnytskyi to Lviv.
All available air defense assets were deployed to repel the air attack — aircraft, anti-aircraft drones, electronic warfare systems, and ground-based air defense systems.
Over the course of a day, 906 drones were destroyed, which is, without exaggeration, a significant achievement.
The effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defense stands in stark contrast to the situation in the Middle East, where strategic air defense systems are required to intercept Shahed-type drones.
In particular, to destroy such drones there, they used extremely expensive ship-based SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles.
At the same time, Ukrainian specialists deployed in the region to protect the civilian population of partner countries are already effectively shooting down Iranian drones using their own, significantly more efficient methods.
