---
title: "Night attack: Russia deployed 163 drones, Ukrainian air defense suppressed 135 targets — strikes confirmed at 15 locations"
description: "On the night of 3 September, Russia deployed 163 drones against Ukraine from several directions. By 08:30, Ukrainian air defense had suppressed 135 targets; strikes were confirmed at 15 locations, and data on Kyiv Oblast and Odesa was updated."
date: 2026-09-03T06:02:03.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/night-attack-163-drones-ukrainian-air-defense-suppressed-135-targets
tags: [ukraine-war, drones, air-defense, russia, afu, odesa, kyiv-region]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Night attack: Russia deployed 163 drones, Ukrainian air defense suppressed 135 targets — strikes confirmed at 15 locations

![Ukrainian soldier aiming an anti-aircraft gun as part of the air defense system to counter Russian drone attacks](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/03/nocnaya-ataka-163-drona-pvo-vsu-podavila-135-celyey/nocnaya-ataka-163-drona-pvo-vsu-podavila-135-celyey-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- At 18:00 on 2 September, Russian forces launched 163 drones from the Millerovo, Orel, "TOT Donetsk" and Gvardeyskoye — "TOT Autonomous Republic of Crimea" axis directions.
- By 08:30 on 3 September, the AFU reported 135 shot-down/suppressed UAVs, including Shaheds (including jet-powered) and "Gerbs".
- Strikes were confirmed at 15 locations and debris fall at 4; the attack was still ongoing at the time of the summary.
- Aftermath updated: a strike on Kyiv Oblast on the morning of 3 September and a renewed rise in the number of casualties in Odesa.

On the night of 3 September 2026, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a new massive strike on Ukraine using aerial attack means. According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the aerial attack began at 18:00 on 2 September: the enemy deployed 163 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of various types. The drones flew in from several directions — from the Millerovo area, from the Orel region, from the so-called "TOT Donetsk" (temporarily occupied territory), and along the Gvardeyskoye — "TOT Autonomous Republic of Crimea" axis. By 08:30 on 3 September, Ukrainian air defense units reported that they had successfully shot down or suppressed 135 enemy drones, including Shaheds (including jet-powered modifications), "Gerb" drones, and UAVs of other types.

### Course of the defense and confirmed aftermath

As of the morning of 3 September, the AFU had confirmed strikes by enemy aerial attack means at 15 locations, as well as the fall of debris from shot-down drones at four other points. The official appeal from Ukrainian defenders read as follows: "The attack is ongoing; enemy UAVs are in the airspace. Observe safety rules!" This means that at the time of publication some targets may still have been in the air, and the final figures on shot-down aircraft and the aftermath could be revised as the air defense operation concluded.

### Regional context: Kyiv Oblast and Odesa

In parallel with the nationwide picture of the attack, the media recorded regional consequences. RBC-Ukraine had previously reported on the aftermath of a Russian strike on Kyiv Oblast, recorded on the morning of 3 September. Data on Odesa was updated separately: the number of casualties from the enemy strike on the city rose again, indicating ongoing work by emergency services and the refinement of the list of victims and the wounded. These details underscore that the final picture of the damage is not formed immediately, but over the course of the day following the attack.

### Contradictory data

When cross-checking the versions of the two sides and different dates, significant discrepancies emerge that are important to distinguish. First, the Ukrainian Air Force reports 163 launched drones and 135 shot-down/suppressed targets during the night of 2–3 September. Second, a number of Ukrainian publications (in particular fakty.com.ua) describe a different night attack — on 1 September, when air defense allegedly shot down 5 ballistic missiles and more than 180 drones; this is a separate event with a different date and a different arsenal composition, which should not be conflated with the night strike of 2–3 September. Third, Russian sources (voennoedelo.com) provide a fundamentally different framing: they claim the destruction of "325 Ukrainian drones," that is, an alleged offensive UAV attack on Russian territory, rather than Ukrainian defense. The Russian regional source (rostov.mk.ru), meanwhile, confirms only the fact of repelling a UAV attack in two districts of Rostov Oblast on the night of 2 September, which indirectly aligns with the "Millerovo" direction but does not disclose overall figures. Thus, the discrepancies concern both the dates and the number of targets and the very logic of the event (defense vs. offense), so both versions are presented openly.

### Assessment and significance of the event

Regardless of the discrepancies in the figures, the key fact — the scale of drone deployment and the multi-directional nature of the strike — is confirmed by both sides: both Ukrainian and Russian sources record intense UAV activity on the night of 2–3 September. For Ukraine, this is yet another episode of a systematic campaign to test air defense and damage infrastructure, characterized by massive wave attacks. For analysis, it is important that the spread in the figures (135 versus 163 per Ukrainian data, 325 per Russian data) reflects both differences in counting methodologies and the information confrontation, in which each side presents data favorable to its narrative. The final official summaries on the number of targets shot down and casualties are, as a rule, published several hours after the attack ends.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Drones flew from different directions, there are strikes: how air defense repelled the Russian night attack](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/droni-letili-riznih-napryamkiv-e-vluchannya-1788415118.html) - Совпадает с базовым текстом: многонаправленная атака, 163 дрона, направления, подтверждённые попадания. Использован как основной украинский источник.
- [Night attack: air defense shot down 5 ballistic missiles and more than 180 drones](https://fakty.com.ua/ru/ukraine/20260901-nichna-ataka-ukrayiny-ppo-zbyla-5-balistychnyh-raket-ta-ponad-180-droniv/) - Описывает иную ночную атаку — 1 сентября (5 баллистических ракет + 180+ дронов). Не то же событие, что удар 2–3 сентября; учтено в блоке противоречий по датам.
- [On the night of 2 September, a UAV attack was repelled in two districts of Rostov Oblast](https://rostov.mk.ru/incident/2026/09/02/v-noch-na-2-sentyabrya-ataku-bpla-otrazili-v-dvukh-rayonakh-rostovskoy-oblasti.html) - Российский региональный источник; подтверждает активность БПЛА в Ростовской области в ночь на 2 сентября, косвенно согласуется с направлением «Миллерово», но не даёт общих цифр.
- [Night attack thwarted: air defense destroyed 325 Ukrainian drones](https://voennoedelo.com/posts/id88792-nochnaja-ataka-sorvana-pvo-unichtozhila-325-ukrainskih-dronov) - Российская версия с иной рамкой (325 «украинских дрона», наступление на РФ). Конфликтует с украинскими цифрами и логикой события; изложено в блоке противоречий.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: How many drones did Russia deploy on the night of 3 September?
**A:** According to the AFU, the enemy launched 163 UAVs of various types, attacking from the Millerovo, Orel, "TOT Donetsk" and Gvardeyskoye — "TOT Autonomous Republic of Crimea" axis directions.

### Q: How many targets did Ukrainian air defense manage to shoot down?
**A:** By 08:30 on 3 September, the AFU reported 135 shot-down or suppressed drones, including Shaheds (including jet-powered) and "Gerbs." The attack was still ongoing at the time of the summary, so the final figure could be refined.

### Q: Where were the consequences of the attack recorded?
**A:** Strikes by aerial attack means were confirmed at 15 locations and the fall of debris from shot-down drones at 4 points. Data on Kyiv Oblast and on Odesa, where the number of casualties rose again, was updated separately.

### Q: Why do the sources give different figures and dates?
**A:** The Ukrainian data refers to the strike of 2–3 September (163 drones, 135 shot down). Some publications describe a different attack on 1 September (5 ballistic missiles and 180+ drones), while Russian sources provide a different framing (325 "Ukrainian drones"). These discrepancies in dates and figures are distinguished in the article.