Ukraine’s Long-Range Drones Penetrate Russia’s Air Defense ‘Dome’

Ukrainian long-range drones on Tuesday pierced Russia’s air defense dome like it was a colander. Videos from Izhevsk show two single-engine drones scraping noisily across the sky, untouched by crackling anti-aircraft fire. Suddenly the kamikaze craft plunge to earth, setting off orange fireballs. The local governor, Alexander Brechalov, said the attack killed three defense industry workers and injured 35. The governor says he briefed President Putin about the attack. The attack is sure to go down poorly in the Kremlin, 600 miles to the west. One of its ironies is that the damaged factory, Kupol, specializes in state of the art anti-aircraft missiles. In Russian, Kupol means dome.Izhevsk, a city of 600,000, officially carries the title “Armory of Russia.” The defense industry got its start there in 1941, when the Soviets evacuated much of their military-industrial complex east, trying to escape German bombers.After World War II, Izhevsk was a city closed to foreigners. For the Soviet Union, the arms industry in Izhevsk took on such national significance that the city’s name was briefly changed to Ustinov, in honor of the Brezhnev-era defense minister, Dmitry Ustinov.Izhevsk is home to Izmash. Starting in 1948, this factory has churned out an estimated 100 million AK-47 automatic weapons, largely for export around the world. The rifle’s designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov, lived in Izhevsk until his death in 2013.Now, slow-moving AN-196 Lyuty drones have violated the Armory of Russia. These are, essentially, Cessnas without pilots. Eighteen months ago, the American Department of the Treasury sanctioned Kupol as “Russia’s leader in the production of anti-aircraft defense equipment.” Officially called Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol, the factory complex produces Tor-M2 and Osa-AKM air defense systems and one of Russia’s most advanced military drones, the Garpiya, or “Harpy.”Ukraine’s long-distance attack — at least 800 miles — is part of a larger strategy to target defense factories deep inside Russia. There are almost daily reports of drone attacks on Russian military fuel depots, fuel trains, design bureaus, drone assembly plants, microelectronics plants, and explosives factories.This strategy first drew world attention June 1, when Ukraine launched “Operation Spider Web.” Ukrainian drones, pre-positioned near four Russian air bases, attacked and destroyed about 14 percent of Russia’s active strategic bomber fleet. Among the 13 planes destroyed were 11 irreplaceable Tupolev Tu-22M and Tu-95 bombers. Moving forward, Ukraine’s state security agency, or SBU, used drones Friday to destroy or damage four Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers at Marinovka air base, 180 miles east of Ukraine. Since the war started in 2022, Russia has lost about 40 Su-34s, or a third of its original fleet.Later on Friday, the SBU says, Ukrainian drones struck another Russian air field, Kirovske, 130 miles from Ukraine. The SBU says it destroyed Mil Mi-8 and Mil Mi-26 transport helicopters, a Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter, and a Pantsir air-defense vehicle.“The occupiers should realize that their expensive military equipment and ammunition are not protected anywhere: neither on the line of combat contact, nor in temporarily occupied territories, nor in the deep rear of the enemy.” the Ukrainian security agency said in a post.From the other side, Russia is launching the heaviest air attacks of the war. The goal seems to be to break the spirit of Ukraine’s civilian population. According to a United Nations report released last month, the number of Ukrainian civilians killed and wounded during the first five months of this year is up by almost 50 percent compared to the first five months of 2024. This year’s toll was 968 killed and 4,807 wounded. Both countries are ramping up drone production. In May, Russia’s combat drone production jumped by almost 17 percent compared to April, according to a report by a Russian think tank close to the defense ministry, the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting. Ukraine’s military intelligence estimates that Russia now is producing about 2,700 Shahed-136s and 2,500 decoy drones every month. This would be a fivefold increase since this time last year. Short of labor, Russia has recruited hundreds of women from Uganda, Mali, Cameroon, Botswana, and Zimbabwe to work on drone assembly in Tatarstan, France’s Le Monde newspaper reports. Last month, President Putin announced that he is creating a standalone drone branch of the Russian armed forces. Ukraine did so last year.On Sunday, Russia fired a record 537 missiles and drones at seven regions of Ukraine, Ukraine’s air force reported on Telegram. Ukraine claims its air defenses repelled 475 of the strikes, with 249 downed and 226 lost on radar. In all, Russia fired 477 Shahed attack and simulator drones as well as 60 missiles, including four Kinzhal, seven Iskanders, and 46 cruise missiles.A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, was killed Sunday after downing seven drones, the air force said. This year, Ukraine has lost three of the American-made war jets. Ukraine’s air force reported Tuesday that in June the nation’s air defense destroyed 4,758 air targets, including 2,453 Iran-designed Shahed drones.Last week, after the NATO summit at the Hague, President Trump said he is considering President Zelensky’s request for more Patriot air defense batteries. Germany and Canada will jointly finance Ukrainian production of anti-Shahed drones. On Tuesday, Germany’s Die Welt newspaper reports that Germany will finance Ukrainian production of 500 more drones of the type that hit Izhevsk, Russia’s “Armory City.”

Ukraine’s Long-Range Drones Penetrate Russia’s Air Defense ‘Dome’

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