After 2024, the russian military removed 28 launchers for S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from air-defense positions around Severodvinsk and redeployed them south, including to temporarily occupied Crimea and, most likely, to strengthen the air defenses protecting Moscow.
The move illustrates the increasingly acute shortage of long-range air-defense assets russia has faced over the past two years. In doing so, Moscow effectively reduced protection for two of its most strategically important naval facilities: Sevmash, the country's only shipyard capable of building nuclear-powered submarines, and Zvezdochka, russia's largest shipyard specializing in the overhaul and repair of nuclear-powered naval vessels.
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The findings were reported by The Barents Observer, which based its analysis on publicly available Google Earth satellite imagery.
According to the publication, the Yagry North site still hosted six S-300/S-400 launchers until mid-2024. Today, the position appears abandoned. The nearby Yagry Center site previously contained 14 launchers, but none have remained there since 2025.
The Mironovy Gory position also hosted eight S-300/S-400 launchers as of mid-2024. Current imagery shows that all of them have since disappeared.
The systems most likely belonged to the 1528th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, part of the 1st Air Defense Division within russia's 45th Air and Air Defense Army. The formation was previously subordinate to the Northern Fleet but is believed to have since been transferred to the Leningrad Military District.
Another piece of open-source evidence points to Crimea as one of the destinations for these systems. Public reports indicate that the commander of one battalion of the 1528th Regiment was killed in temporarily occupied Crimea on April 30, 2024, the same day Ukraine reported strikes against russian military targets on the peninsula. Although this is not definitive proof, it strongly supports the assessment that at least part of the regiment's air-defense assets from Severodvinsk had been redeployed to occupied Crimea.
Since Moscow remains russia's highest-priority area for strategic air defense, it is also reasonable to assume that some of the S-300 and S-400 systems withdrawn from Severodvinsk were reassigned to protect the russian capital.
Defense Express previously reported that even after russia deployed a new S-500 Prometey air-defense division, along with numerous Pantsir systems around Moscow, Ukrainian drones continued to penetrate the capital's air-defense network.
Ivan Kyrychevskiy, serviceman of the 413th Raid Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine and weapons expert at Defense Express.
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