Satellite images taken shortly after a May 23 Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region show significant damage to a key radar installation providing air-defense coverage to the occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea, as well as the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf.
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The Armavir radar station, which has two Voronezh-DM radars with a range of some 6,000 kilometers, appears to have suffered serious damage to the buildings housing the radars, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported.
According to The War Zone blog, the station is part of Russia’s nuclear ballistic missile early warning system.
The blog said the station may have been targeted because it is capable of tracking U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles, which were recently approved for distribution to Ukraine by Washington.
Norwegian military analyst Thord Are Iversen, writing on X, formerly Twitter, argued that targeting elements of Russia’s nuclear early warning system “isn’t a particularly good idea…especially in times of tension.”
The Ukrainian attack on the Armavir station came shortly after Russia began exercises of its tactical nuclear-weapons forces in the Southern Military District.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the exercises were held “in response to provocative statements and threats from certain Western officials.”
Neither Russia nor Ukraine have commented on the Armavir attack.
Also on May 23, the airport in the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, Kazan, and several industrial facilities in the region were temporarily closed because of “possible drone attacks.” Tatarstan is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the border with Ukraine.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian territory and off its shores, targeting, in particular, oil production and refining facilities, air defense installations, and naval vessels.