Ukraine carried out a drone attack on the western Russian region of Belgorod overnight and hit an S-400 air defense complex and its radar, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told Reuters on Wednesday.
Russia’s defense ministry said earlier on Wednesday that it had downed 31 drones launched by Kyiv overnight over the regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk, but reported no casualties or damage. The two accounts could not be independently verified.
Drones of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) hit a Russian S-400 Triumph air defense system near the Russian city of Belgorod, several Ukrainian media outlets reported on Oct. 4, citing sources in the SBU.
The strike was reportedly carried out at night. In videos on Russian Telegram channels, allegedly taken in Belgorod and published in the early hours of Oct. 4, the sounds of explosions can be heard over the city.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a drone attack striking an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system near the Russian city of Belgorod, the SBU told state news agency Ukrinform on Wednesday.
About 20 explosions can be heard in the video posted on social media by Russians at the location of the S-400 and its radar. At the time, the light went out in the neighboring settlements, the SBU noted.
This is the second S-400 system that the SBU hit in the last month. The first one was struck in Yevpatoria on September 14.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, reported that three aerial targets were downed over the Grayvoron district, resulting in damage to civilian infrastructure.
This is not the first reported attack by the SBU against a modern S-400 system worth around $1.2 billion.
Another such system was allegedly destroyed in Yevpatoriia in Crimea on Sept. 14 in a joint operation by the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy.
On Aug. 23, the Ukrainian military reported that yet another S-400 system had been destroyed near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut in the occupied peninsula.
The S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia. It is capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defense capability, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank’s Missile Defense Project.
The think tank adds that the S-400’s mission set and capabilities are roughly comparable to the US Patriot system. Unlike some Patriot interceptors today, however, the S-400 does not currently employ hit-to-kill ballistic missile defense technology. Russia is however developing a new interceptor, the 77N6, which is believed to employ hit to kill technology.
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