Air defense plays a crucial role in the Ukraine war. Ukraine is increasingly targeting weak points in the Russian hinterland.
Kiev – Recently, the Ukraine Attacks with drones that fly unusually low Russia According to experts, this indicates that the Russian air defenses are overstretched. While border areas are well protected, regions in Russia’s hinterland are considered vulnerable. The Ukrainian army is apparently taking advantage of this.
Air defence penetrated – Ukraine reaches Russian territories with drones
Ukraine has long been attacking Russian territory with drones, particularly targeting the oil industry. The oil depots are highly flammable and the fires destroy millions of Russian rubles in a very short time. This dries up President Wladimir Putin – and at the same time reduces the fuel supply to the front. Most recently, the Ukrainian army in Ukraine War There were also attacks deep into the Russian hinterland, according to Ukrainian sources even up to 2,000 kilometres behind the front.
“We have seen numerous cases where the Ukrainians have penetrated Russian air defenses[…]“, confirmed Russia expert George Barros from the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) to the portal Business Insider. The Russian air defense should have been able to take out the drones “very easily,” the expert continued. Since spring 2024, Barros says, it has been observed that Ukraine has been targeting areas that it could not reach before. Entire swarms of drones are reaching areas deep in Russia.
The weaknesses of Russia’s air defence – and how Ukraine uses them
Comprehensive air defense is a challenge in the world’s largest country by area. Russia has positioned its air defense systems in such a way that they protect the areas near the border that are threatened from the air. If Ukraine overcomes these, “its armed forces will penetrate into areas inside Russia that are not adequately protected,” the Russia expert analyzes according to Business Insider An example of such an attack is the attack on an oil refinery in the Russian region of Tartastan, far behind the front
The ISW concluded at the time that “Ukrainian attacks on targets in Tatarstan likely represent a significant turning point in Ukraine’s ability to conduct long-range attacks deep into Russia’s rear areas,” as it said in an April situation report. In light of the attacks in his region, the head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, called on Russians to “wake up” and realize that “no one will protect them but themselves. […] We do not need to wait for the [russische] Missile defense works.”
The Russian military began to use mobile commandos to combat drones, military sources said at the time. According to ISW, this suggests that Russia’s conventional air defense is not able to protect all important facilities. In addition, Ukraine recently managed to destroy numerous Russian air defense systems, especially on the occupied peninsula CrimeaThis further weakened Russia’s air defense.
Selenskyj demands more: expanded use of Western weapons on targets in Russia
The F-16 fighter jets could strengthen Ukraine’s air force. According to reports, the first F-16 aircraft have already arrived in Ukraine. “However, it will probably take several months before Ukraine will be able to use the fighter jets on a large scale,” says a analysis the US war experts at the ISW. According to them, a certain number of aircraft are needed to deploy the F-16 together with the Ukrainian air defense systems.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also calls for an expansion of the use of Western weapons for military targets in Russia. The survival of the Ukrainian state depends on Western support for Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russia, said Zelensky. The use of long-range ATACMS missiles on targets in Russia, for example, remains restricted. Russia reportedly expects this to change soon.
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