Russia Launches 209 Shahed Drones Overnight — 180 Intercepted; Izmail Warehouse Hit, Man Injured in Kherson

Overnight May 18–19, 2026, Russia launched 209 Shahed-type attack drones against Ukraine. Ukraine's air defense forces neutralized 180 of 209 drones (86% interception rate). Among the successful strikes: a warehouse in the Izmail district of Odesa Oblast was hit by a drone, and a man was injured in Kherson's Korabelnyi district in a separate drone attack. The overnight barrage, while smaller in scale than the record 524-drone barrage on May 17–18, continued Russia's pattern of near-nightly pressure on Ukrainian air defenses and civilian infrastructure. The 86% interception rate reflects the high operational tempo Ukraine's air defense units have maintained throughout May 2026, when Russia has launched some of its largest combined drone-missile campaigns of the war. Day 1,545 of Russia's full-scale invasion.