On the night of March 3, Russian forces launched a massive strike on Ukraine, firing 136 strike drones of various modifications. According to the Air Force command, the drones were launched from the territories of the Kursk region, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, as well as from the temporarily occupied Hvardeyske in Crimea.
This is reported by Finway
Air Defense Forces Effectively Countered the Attack
To repel the aerial attack, aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems, and mobile fire groups were deployed. According to preliminary information, by 09:00, Ukrainian air defense managed to destroy or suppress 127 enemy drones of the Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas types, as well as other types of drones in the northern, southern, and eastern regions of the country.
“According to preliminary data, by 09:00, air defense had shot down/suppressed 127 enemy UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas types and drones of other types in the north, south, and east of the country,” the report states.
Despite the significant effectiveness of air defense, five strike drones were reported to have hit three locations, and debris from drones fell in three other places.
Targeted Terror Against Civil Infrastructure Continues
Russian forces systematically attack Ukrainian cities and civil infrastructure facilities using various types of weapons: strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems. Such shelling affects vital facilities, particularly energy systems, transportation, port infrastructure, and healthcare institutions.
The Ukrainian authorities and international organizations classify such strikes as war crimes committed by the Russian Federation. Experts and human rights defenders emphasize that the attacks are targeted. The destruction of life-support systems, depriving the population of electricity, heat, water, communication, and medical assistance is viewed as a sign of genocidal actions.
Moreover, Russian officials have repeatedly made public statements calling for the destruction of Ukrainians, denying the existence of the Ukrainian people and statehood. In the occupied territories, there is persecution of individuals with pro-Ukrainian positions, deportation of children, destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage, and attempts to alter the identity of the population.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, obligates 149 participating countries to counter manifestations of genocide in both wartime and peacetime. According to this international document, genocide is defined as actions aimed at the complete or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
At the same time, the Russian leadership continues to deny the intentional targeting of civilian objects, despite numerous evidence of the destruction of hospitals, schools, energy and water supply systems, as well as casualties among the civilian population.