Russian air defenses fail to counter Ukrainian drones - BI
Date: 2024-10-01 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
New Western intelligence suggests that Russia maintains an extensive air defense network, but that has not stopped Ukraine from carrying out strikes using long-range drones.
According to Business Insider, Ukrainian drones have carried out a series of attacks on important Russian ammunition depots in recent weeks, causing significant damage and destroying large quantities of weapons needed to support the Russian military.
These strikes demonstrate the success of Ukraine's long-range drone programs and cast doubt on the ability of Russia's air defenses to effectively defend their facilities.
The UK Ministry of Defence said Kyiv’s ability to launch large-scale attacks quickly highlights Russia’s difficulty in countering Ukrainian drones, despite its extensive air defence network, including surface-to-air missiles, electronic warfare, anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets.
The Ukrainian side said its drones had managed to bypass Russian defences and strike an ammunition depot in the Volgograd region, in yet another attack on Russian targets.
According to British intelligence, such attacks are likely to further disperse Russia’s logistics system due to fears of further strikes, making it even more difficult to supply the military.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War also point out that regular strikes on Russian depots could force Moscow to disperse its logistics assets to reduce their vulnerability.
Despite its best efforts, Russia has been unable to effectively repel Ukrainian drone attacks at significant range since the start of the war.
In recent months, Ukraine has successfully attacked important military and energy targets in Russia using domestically produced drones because it is prohibited from using Western missiles to strike Russian territory. Kyiv continues to insist that these restrictions be lifted, believing that doing so would further undermine Russia’s military capabilities.
