Russia's regional authorities have directly stated that they cannot rely on Russian air defence at the federal level and that the regions must counter drones themselves.
Points of attention
- Strikes by Ukrainian drones put pressure on the Russian air defence system, which forces the military command to distribute limited means to protect objects.
- The lack of effective air defence means that Russia needs innovation and a decentralised approach to protecting critical objects.
- The Russian military has begun forming mobile fire groups to protect against Ukrainian drone strikes, but their effectiveness is still insufficient.
Seven "Pantsir-1" systems are located near Putin's residence
Drone strikes deep in Russia continue to put pressure on the air defence system of the aggressor country.
Drone attacks force the military command of the Russian Federation to prioritize the distribution of limited means of air defense to cover, in their opinion, important objects.
Satellite images obtained on May 6 indicate that the Russian occupying forces have concentrated at least seven Pantsir-1 medium-range air defence systems near the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Valdai (Leningrad region - ed.).
Ruslan Pukhov, the head of the Moscow Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies and a member of the civilian advisory council under the Ministry of Defense of Russia, said on July 16 that such "central" air defence coverage (static coverage of one target) does not make sense in terms of scale, as it allows Ukrainian drones to bypass the Russian air defence coverage and strike from unobstructed directions.
The Russian military lacks air defence systems to protect all critical sites in western Russia and even tries to cover important potential targets in areas that are reportedly well-protected in Russia.
Pukhov called on the Russian military to implement an innovative decentralised approach to protecting facilities in Russia from Ukrainian drones and warned that Ukrainian drones are likely to penetrate deep into Russia.
Russia begins to create mobile fire groups
The Russian military began to form mobile fire groups. Russia copied Ukraine's experience, successfully deploying such squads to intercept Russian Shahed-136/131 drones.
Russia has not yet deployed these groups on the necessary scale to adequately protect critical facilities in the West.
Continued pressure on Russia's air defence system has led some regional authorities to state that Russian companies and local authorities cannot rely on federal-level Russian air defence and must provide own anti-drone capabilities.
Pukhov suggested that the Russian military deploy a fleet of light aircraft to intercept Ukrainian drones, but noted that Russia's low production of light aircraft would complicate such efforts.
