Ukrainian forces used long-range precision fire to degrade Russia’s ability to monitor and defend Belgorod Oblast’s airspace. The Ukrainian General Staff shared footage of the strike, which reportedly hit three key components of Russia’s air defense grid on 20 July. The targeted equipment included an S-300P surface-to-air missile launcher and two radars.

Ukrainian strike hits missile and radar systems near the border

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says Ukrainians successfully struck a Russian S-300P surface-to-air missile launcher. The report stated that this significantly reduced Russia’s long-range air defense coverage in the region. The General Staff says the attack also hit a Nebo-M radar system. Additionally, the General Staff said that the attack degraded operational capacity of a nearby 5N66M “Big Bird” over-the-horizon radar station.

The General Staff therefore stated that “such coordinated strikes represent a substantial blow to the Russian Federation’s air defense network, diminishing its ability to protect its forces and infrastructure, and enabling continued Ukrainian operations.”

The General Staff did not specify which weapons were used in the attack. A short video clip released with the announcement showed two relatively small explosions, suggesting the use of a GMLRS rockets.

Strike supports Ukrainian military efforts to reduce Russian offensive capability

The General Staff emphasized that weakening these systems directly supports efforts “to reduce Russia’s capacity to wage its war of aggression and its continued targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure inside of Ukraine.”

“The Defense Forces will persist in conducting operations to undermine the critical systems and enablers supporting Russia’s war machine,” the General Staff stated.

A Ukrainian drone strike on Russian air defenses has disabled multiple radar systems and surface-to-air missile launchers in the Donetsk sector, eastern Ukraine, Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) reported. The latest footage released by HUR shows their elite Prymary (“Ghosts”) unit destroying key Russian military hardware during precision drone attacks in the occupied part of the oblast.

Prymary strikes radar systems and S-300V launchers near occupied Donetsk

HUR released video footage of the operation on its official YouTube channel, showing accurate drone strikes on two S-300V launchers and five radar systems, supporting these launchers and other Russian air defense assets. The S-300V is primarily designed to intercept operational-tactical missiles and serves as a key element of Russia’s anti-missile defense network. However, Russian forces have been also using such launchers in a secondary role — to fire on ground targets, including residential areas in Ukrainian cities.

According to the description accompanying the HUR video, Prymary fighters continue to “systematically weaken Russian air defense — now in the Donetsk direction.” The agency confirmed the destruction of:

• three 48Ya6-K1 Podlyot radar stations, designed to detect targets at low and extremely low altitudes in complex electronic warfare conditions;
• two Niobiy-SV radar stations, used to track aerial targets at medium and high altitudes at distances of up to 200–300 kilometers;
• two S-300V launchers, part of a surface-to-air missile system primarily used to intercept operational-tactical missiles, and also employed by Russian forces in a secondary ground-strike role;
• and one P-18 radar station, a Soviet-era two-coordinate system capable of determining only azimuth and distance, but not altitude.

Official footage shows direct drone hits on Russian systems

The video published by HUR shows direct drone strikes on the listed radar systems and missile launchers. However, the FPV footage cuts off at the moment of impact, and the aftermath is not shown. Still, the accuracy of the strikes indicates that the targeted Russian air defense assets were at least damaged, if not destroyed.