On August 19, the Russian Air Force carried out another drone attack — 17 UAVs were launched, 15 of which were shot down in the air. As a result, industrial enterprise was damaged in Zhytomyr Oblast, more than 30 houses of civilians were damaged due to falling fragments of downed UAVs in several villages of Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
Two local women received minor injuries. On the afternoon of August 19, the Russians also struck the center of Chernihiv with a ballistic missile. According to the local state administration, it was the Iskander-M missile. Russia once again confirms that it is a terrorist state waging war against civilians. During August, Russia used 128 UAVs against Ukraine, of which 121 were shot down. Thus, the effectiveness of air defense in Ukraine exceeds 90 %. This is an argument in favor of the further provision of Western-made air defense and missile defense systems for the Armed Forces. Moreover, Putin does not plan to stop terror with missiles and drones: the Kremlin not only imports UAVs from Iran, but also creates a factory for the production of such drones in the city of Yelabuga. If the Russian Air Force regularly receives large batches of drones, this will lead to systematic terror of peaceful Ukrainians and a large number of victims among them. Also, despite the imposed sanctions, Iran, as a manufacturer of strike drones, continues to receive Western-made components that are found in downed drones. That is why it is necessary to strengthen control over the export of such components in order to slow down and make impossible the production of the Shahed-136 UAV itself.
Russia meets the definition of a “terrorist state” by all criteria. Putin threatens the civilized world with his war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia systematically commits war crimes against peaceful Ukrainians, one of which is the use of attack UAVs, fragments of which leads to casualties and destruction. Accordingly, new sanctions should be applied against the Russian Federation, which will weaken the Russian military-industrial complex. Putin’s plan’s for further escalation poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to all of Europe.