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What the 8 January 2024 Russian barrage revealed
Summary
A look back at a missile and drone attack that struck four Ukrainian regions and followed a deadly strike in Donetsk Oblast.
What did the Russian attack of 8 January 2024 show about the pressure on Ukraine's air defences? Russia launched a large missile and drone attack across the country, killing at least four people and injuring 38 others in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.
Ukraine said it shot down all eight drones and 18 of the 51 missiles launched. By that count, 33 missiles were not intercepted, so most of the missile salvo got through, while the drones were all stopped.
The attack came two days after a separate strike. On 6 January 2024, according to local authorities, Russian forces hit Pokrovsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast with S-300 missiles, killing at least 11 people, including five children, and injuring eight others.
Taken together, the two days show attacks reaching both frontline areas and oblasts elsewhere in the country, with civilian casualties reported in each case. The geographic spread of the 8 January strikes, across four oblasts, meant that the harm was not confined to a single locality.
