Pro-war military bloggers in Russia are urging President Vladimir Putin to address the country's air defense capabilities following a reported Ukrainian attack on the Belgorod region, which caused damage to a crucial anti-aircraft missile system. According to recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian forces likely targeted and destroyed parts of a Russian S-300/400 air defense system using a HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) supplied by the US.
The strike came shortly after the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to utilize specific weapons for targeting certain locations within Russia. While Ukraine has the authorization to defend its Kharkiv region with these weapons, it's prohibited from employing long-range missiles like ATACMS on Russian soil, as stated by a US official cited by Newsweek.
The military bloggers, aligned with the Russian occupation, perceive the threat to Russian air defense systems, including from allied forces' ATACMS ballistic missiles, as significant. They argue for a reassessment of air defense system development, criticizing the practices of the Russian military-industrial complex over the past 25 years. They advocate for immediate strategic reviews, expressing doubts about the current approach's efficacy.
Their recommendations include separating control cabins, launchers, and other components of the air defense system by significant distances. They suggest implementing anti-fragmentation screens and curtains for all system elements and mandating the fortification of control cabins where crews are stationed. Additionally, they propose transforming the appearance of air defense systems from large and conspicuous "cubes" to compact and camouflaging "transformers" when deployed.
Moreover, the bloggers recall historical measures taken during the Vietnam War, where S-75 air defense system crews shielded control cabins from BLU-3 Pineapple cluster fragmentation bombs using bamboo bundles for protection and camouflage. They suggest referring to the memoirs of General Alexander Yakovlev, a military adviser to a North Vietnamese army S-75 regiment, for further insights. Urgent action is deemed necessary to address the current threat to Russian air defenses.
While Russian sources speculate that Ukrainian forces utilized US-supplied HIMARS in the strike, Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on the incident, as highlighted by ISW's analysis on Monday. The think tank emphasizes that Russian sources are likely to attribute any successful strike in the Belgorod region to a HIMARS attack, regardless of the actual system used.
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