Russia Concerned Its Air Defenses 'Compromised' After Ukraine Attacks: U.K.
Russian leaders are likely concerned about how the country's air defenses "continue to be compromised" by drone attacks, according to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense (MOD).
The ministry made the assessment on Monday in an intelligence update that described a May 3 strike by several uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Russia's Seshcha Airbase, which is located approximately 93 miles north of the Ukrainian border. Ukraine's military has not confirmed its involvement in any such attacks on Russian territory.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of being responsible for other attacks on Russian soil, most notably an alleged assassination attempt of Russian President Vladimir Putin in a failed drone strike earlier this month. Another case of well-documented drone attacks occurred in December when two separate strikes targeted Engels airbase, which is located deep inside Russia.
A Russian Pantsir-S1 is seen during rehearsals of the Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow, on May, 6, 2012. The effectiveness of Russia's air defense weapons, such as Pantsir-S1 systems, is likely causing concern in the Kremlin after they were not able to prevent strikes on Russian targets. Sasha Mordovets/Getty
The MOD update described the importance of the Seshcha base for Putin's forces.
"Seshcha is a hub for the VTA [Russia's Military Transport Aviation] in western Russia and has played a major role in enabling Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the ministry wrote in its assessment. "Russia also uses the site to launch Iranian-produced one-way-attack UAVs towards Kyiv."
The statement continued, "The VTA is a well-resourced element of the Russian Air Force, essential for transport across the vast country."
The MOD also said that one An-124 heavy transport aircraft was likely damaged during the May 3 attack.
"Russian leaders will be concerned that Russia's air defences continue to be compromised, holding at risk key strategic assets such as VTA bases," the ministry said.
Guy McCardle, the managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek that Russia built "some of the most sophisticated air defense systems in the world" during the Cold War, but time has taken a toll.
"I believe the problem may be that these systems are aging and may not have been maintained properly over the years. As such, they may not be working exactly as intended," McCardle said. "A second factor is that the Russians probably don't have as much ammunition as they would like for their air defense systems, and the ammo they have may be old and non-functional as well."
He also said that while "Russians have the know-how when it comes to building these systems," they "probably do not have nearly as many as they would like, and they almost certainly do not have all sensitive areas protected according to their doctrinal three-tier approach, where if an enemy missile gets by one tier it is destroyed by another."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
Source: Newsweek
