Since early May 2023, russia has restarted frequent long-range missile strikes deep into Ukraine. They are likely primarily aimed at degrading Ukrainian air defences, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Innovating on earlier waves of deep strikes, russia has started more frequently integrating unarmed, surveillance uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) into operations.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: russian Government Imposes Ban on Senior Officials Resigning Amidst the War
These have included russian-produced SuperCam UAVs which are relatively cheap and have sufficient range to fly over the cruise missiles’ targets.
According to the UK Defense Intelligence, russia has highly likely adopted this tactic in an attempt to obtain more timely battle damage assessment and improve its targeting cycle.
The russian military’s slow and inefficient targeting process has been a major weakness in its performance in Ukraine. However, slow surveillance UAVs are highly vulnerable to Ukrainian air defences.
As Defense Express reported, The UK Defense Intelligence: Train Derailment near Simferopol Disrupts Supply Line to russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: Ukrainian Counteroffensive Stalls Wagner Group Advances in Bakhmut while Strengthening Defensive Fortifications
