Ukrainian forces have knocked out a Russian long-range radar system outside of the country's borders, according to Ukrainian media. The attack is the latest of Ukraine's reported strikes on Moscow's assets keeping track of Ukrainian positions and movements.
Ukraine's security service targeted a "modernized" Russian Nebo-U long-range radar system in the Bryansk region, which borders northeastern Ukraine, several Ukrainian outlets reported, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine's SBU.
Kyiv's forces used seven kamikaze drones to attack the radar system, according to Ukrainian media. It is "no longer operational," an SSU source told The Kyiv Independent. The SSU is also referred to as the SBU.
The system comes with an estimated price tag of $100 million, domestic media reported. Several outlets also reported the loss of another Nebo-U radar system in Russia's Belgorod region on an unspecified date.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Ukraine has frequently publicized what it describes as successful strikes on Russian radar systems. Ukraine's military said it had targeted a Nebo radar system in September 2023, then again in November.
By eliminating the Kremlin's radar systems, Ukraine can more easily hide its own assets and movements from Russian troops.
Damaging the Nebo-U system means Russian forces will find it more difficult to detect Ukrainian air targets close to the border, Ukrainian outlets reported.
"The radar blackout for the Russians will assist our troops in conducting reconnaissance, launching drones, and making better use of army aviation in this area," an unnamed source told the Kyiv Post.
There were a "significant number" of reports in the fall of 2023 outlining Ukrainian strikes on Russian radar systems, destroying or at least damaging the systems, James Black, assistant director of the Defense and Security research group at the European branch of the RAND think tank, told Newsweek in late November.
Successfully taking out Russia's radar systems is a priority for Kyiv, Ivan Stupak, a former Ukrainian security service officer who now advises Ukraine's security, defense and intelligence parliamentary committee, told Newsweek at the time.
In mid-February, Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the GUR, said it had destroyed a Russian Kasta-2E2 radar station close to the Russian border. The system could detect Ukrainian targets up to 150 kilometers (around 93 miles) away, the agency said in a statement. The system had likely monitored Ukraine's Kharkiv and Sumy regions, on the Russian border, as well as Russia's Kursk and Voronezh regions.
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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