Russian Air, Missile, and Drone Campaign (Russian Objective: Target Ukrainian military and civilian infrastructure in the rear and on the front line)

Russian forces conducted another series of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine on the night of October 29 and 30. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched one missile of unknown model from Belgorod Oblast towards Sumy Oblast and 62 drones (including Shaheds and unspecified drone models) from Oryol Oblast and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai Oblast.[65] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 33 drones over Kyiv, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Poltava oblasts, and that 25 drones were “locally lost,” likely due to electronic warfare (EW) interference.[66] Kremlin newswire TASS, citing a Russian milblogger, claimed that Russian forces struck the Ukrainian General Staff building in Kyiv City, and Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that the Russian strike was retaliation for the October 29 Ukrainian drone strike on the Spetsnaz University building in Chechnya.[67] ISW cannot confirm the veracity of these claims. Ukrainian regional authorities reported that Russian drone strikes damaged a kindergarten and residential building in Solomyanskyi Raion, Kyiv City; civilian infrastructure and private homes in Bohodukhivskyi Raion, Kharkiv Oblast; and a TV tower in Lozivskyi Raion, Kharkiv Oblast.[68] A Russian milblogger claimed on October 30 that Russian forces launched Shahed drone strikes against Ukrainian troops and equipment in Druzhkivka and Serhiivka, Donetsk Oblast.[69]

The German-based Kiel Institute published a report in September 2024, which assessed that Ukrainian air defenses had a 30 percent interception rate against Russian missiles and a 66 percent interception rate against Russian drones.[70] The report specified that Ukrainian air defenses had interception rates of 50 percent against Kalibr cruise missiles, 22 precent against Kh-59s and Kh-69 cruise missiles, four percent against Iskander ballistic missiles, and less than one percent against Kh-22 anti-ship missiles. The report estimated that Russian forces are using more than 1,000 glide bombs per month.