With Ukraine successfully denying russia’s ability to establish control of the air space over Ukraine, russia has been restricted in its ability to exploit its substantial force of fast jet and bomber aircraft. To overcome this failing, russia has become heavily dependent on the prolific use of relatively low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These have been used to suppress Ukrainian air defenses and attack targets, both military and civilian, beyond the range of its artillery, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
On June 21, 2024, the Ukrainian Navy and Security Service of Ukraine reported they had struck russian 726th Air Defense Training Center at Yeysk airfield, russia. This base is one of at least five from which russia launches its UAV attacks against Ukraine. This strike reportedly destroyed 120 UAVs, of differing types, and wounded 9 personnel.
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It is highly likely that, in the short term, these strikes will cause some disruption to russia’s ability to use UAVs to strike targets deep within Ukrainian territory from these locations. There is a realistic possibility that russia will disperse its UAV operations to less vulnerable bases and hence the impact will likely be temporary. It is likely that Ukraine will exploit its recent successes and continue with its counter-UAV campaign to the detriment of russia.
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