Ukraine Shoots Down 44 Russian Missiles in One Morning: Defense Ministry

Ukrainian troops shot down 44 Russian missiles “before their first cup of coffee” on Monday morning, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.
Ukraine has touted large numbers of Russian losses throughout the eight-month conflict, though Russia has not publicly confirmed the claims.
“This morning, the [Ukrainian] Air Force successfully shot down 44 Russian cruise missiles,” the ministry tweeted. “All this before their first cup of coffee.”
This morning, the 🇺🇦 Air Force successfully shot down 44 russian cruise missiles.
All this before their first cup of coffee. ☕️🎃 pic.twitter.com/yl29qIoY7K — Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 31, 2022
Russia allegedly launched 50 missiles toward “critical infrastructure facilities” in Ukraine at about 7 a.m. local time, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in a Facebook post.
The attack included Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles, which were launched from aircraft north of the Caspian Sea from the Rostov region. Only six of the missiles managed to avoid Ukrainian defense efforts, the post said.
“44 cruise missiles were destroyed by the forces and means of the Air Forces in the areas of responsibility: Air Command ‘Center’ – 18, Air Command ‘South’ – 12, Air Command ‘East’ – 9, Air Command ‘West’ – 5!” the post reads.
Ukraine also claimed to have destroyed 14 Russian tanks, 32 armored combat vehicles, four pieces of artillery, one jet, one helicopter, one drone and eight vehicles and fuel tanks on Monday, the defense ministry wrote. Ukraine’s numbers could not be independently verified by Newsweek.
Multiple explosions rocked Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv. Strikes on critical infrastructure were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Cerkasy.
Debris from one downed Russian missile fell into the northern Moldovan village of Naslavcea, damaging several houses in the village that borders Ukraine, according to Moldova’s Interior Ministry. No casualties were immediately reported. Ukrainian politician Nicu Popescu said the strike was targeting a dam on the Nistru River, which flows through Moldova.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the Russian missile attacks on civilian infrastructure Monday.
“Another batch of Russian missiles hits Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” Kuleba tweeted. “Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians. Don’t justify these attacks by calling them a ‘response.’ Russia does this because it still has the missiles and the will to kill Ukrainians.”
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.