Strikes on Russian defense enterprises could have long-term consequences – expert
Ukraine has shifted from isolated strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure to systematic attacks on enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that produce missiles and aviation components.
This opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by Anatolii Khrapchynskyi, development director of a defense company and a reserve officer of the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to him, recent Ukrainian strikes have revealed serious problems in Russia’s air defense system. A telling example was that a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone was able to operate deep inside Russian territory.
“A Ukrainian reconnaissance drone was about 220 kilometers from Ukraine’s borders and filmed the disgraceful failure of Russian air defenses. We are talking about a drone operating over territory controlled by the Russian Federation, where air defense systems should have been working and should have destroyed it. Instead, that did not happen,” he explained.
Khrapchynskyi said the success of such operations is due to a comprehensive approach that includes not only missile strikes but also the prior weakening of the enemy’s air defense systems.
He also stressed that strikes on Russian defense enterprises could have long-term consequences because some equipment used to manufacture components is unique.
“Some of the machines used to produce such components exist in only a single copy. Therefore, this is actually a significant loss for the Russian Federation,” Khrapchynskyi said.
According to him, Ukraine is deliberately working to reduce Russia’s ability to produce weapons.
“We are already strategically targeting elements of the Russian military-industrial complex that can produce ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and provide components for Russian aviation,” the expert emphasized.
Khrapchynskyi also believes that the weaknesses of Russian air defenses are becoming increasingly apparent. According to him, Russia has been forced to redeploy a large share of its air defense systems to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
“A large number of these systems are being destroyed in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, where they were concentrated as much as possible. As a result, rear cities were left exposed. They did not expect that we would be able to build up the capability to strike targets at a depth of more than 1,500 kilometers in such a short period of time,” he explained.
At the same time, he noted that Russia is trying to compensate for these problems through international cooperation.
“Russia is actively cooperating with China, as well as with Iran and North Korea, which allows it to diversify some aspects of its capabilities,” the expert said.
According to him, it is important for Ukraine to closely monitor which systems and technologies the enemy uses.
“We need to carefully track which systems are used by the enemy in order to understand what tools we must apply to deprive them of such capabilities,” Khrapchynskyi concluded.
Earlier, it was reported that on March 10 and during the night of March 11, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a series of strikes on Russian military facilities, including warehouses, oil depots, a Buk‑M1 surface‑to‑air missile system, and a Russian command post.
In addition, Ukrainian Defense Forces successfully struck the Kremniy‑El microelectronics plant in Bryansk with air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
As a result of strikes on the Novorossiysk naval base in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai on March 2, two ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – the frigates Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov — were damaged.