Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported that its Alpha special operations unit destroyed roughly half of Russia’s Pantsir surface-to-air missile and gun systems in 2025 through long-range strikes.
In a statement on 14 February, the SBU said the Pantsir is a modern and key component of Russia’s air defense, valued at $15-20 million per unit, but completely ineffective against Ukrainian long-range drones.
The agency described the strikes as part of a strategic effort to weaken Russian air defenses and create corridors for targeting military bases, depots, airfields, and other assets deep in Russian-occupied territory.
The SBU estimated the total value of all Russian air defense systems destroyed by Alpha in 2025 at around $4 billion.
The SBU has said its Alpha unit’s campaign in 2025 systematically targeted multiple layers of Russian air defenses, creating “corridors” for long-range Ukrainian strikes deep behind enemy lines. The strikes reportedly disrupted Russia’s ability to fully protect bases, depots, airfields, and other strategic facilities.
Other Ukrainian military units also carried out complementary operations against Russian air defenses throughout 2025, using drones and precision strikes to degrade Moscow’s anti-air capabilities.
Together, these efforts are intended to increase the effectiveness of Ukraine’s deep-strike operations and limit Russia’s ability to protect key infrastructure.
On February 12, Ukraine struck a Russian 55Zh6U “Nebo-U” long-range radar station, estimated to be worth approximately $100 million, near Yevpatoriia in occupied Crimea, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces later reported on Feb. 13.
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