Frontline report: Ukraine wipes out three Russian air defense divisions in three days

29 January 2025. Today, there are important updates from the Russian Federation.

Here, Ukraine’s continuous strike campaign on air defense assets, in combination with deep rear strikes, has placed Russia in a dire dilemma: whether to defend its critical rear infrastructure or protect its military assets at the front. Either choice could potentially expose Russia to systematic destruction, leaving them increasingly vulnerable.

Ryazan fuel facility

The most significant Ukrainian strike targeted the Ryazan oil refinery, one of Russia’s top five largest refining facilities, processing 17 million tons of crude oil annually.

It is a vital component of Russia’s military logistics and economy, supplying fuel essential for civilian and military operations. The drone attack triggered massive fires, forcing a shutdown of operations and severely disrupting fuel supplies.

Neutralizing frontline air defenses

Achieving such deep strikes required neutralizing Russian air defense networks, which Ukraine executed with remarkable effectiveness. Since destroying well-protected air defense systems in the deep rear is more difficult, Ukrainian forces focused instead on destroying those deployed closer to the front. In a single day, Ukrainian forces destroyed a staggering number of Russian air defense systems: two Pantsir-S1s, 2 S-300 systems, 1 Osa system, and 1 Buk-M1 system.

In the following days, Ukrainians destroyed one S-400 system in Kursk, and several BUK-m3 and TOR-M2 systems in the Belgorod region. Then, Ukrainians targeted an electronic warfare system in the Kherson region, and one radar, one TOR-M2, and one BUK-M3 system through FPV drone strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian special operations forces were also able to destroy two additional Russian BUK-M2 air defense systems, together with their crews, repairmen, and accompanying service vehicles.

Ukrainians accomplished this through the work of resistance groups, like Atesh, operating behind enemy lines, providing real-time intelligence on Russian defenses. They relay precise coordinates for strikes and document results, ensuring no Russian system is truly safe.

Russian dilemma

Such losses forced Russian commanders to make difficult choices: either leave frontline troops exposed to Ukrainian strikes or pull more systems from the rear, exposing strategic sites deep inside Russia.

Each destroyed system further weakens Russia’s ability to intercept Ukrainian drones and missiles, compounding the effectiveness of long-range strikes. Ukraine has leveraged these gaps in the Russian air defense network to launch additional drone and missile strikes against key Russian civilian and military infrastructure, striking the command posts of the Russian 29th and 2nd Combined Armed Armies in Donetsk. This undermines Russian command and control structure in their offensive operations here.

Attacks on deep rear facilities

Ukraine then continued its strikes on Russian rear assets, including another devastating strike on the Ryazan refinery to finish the job after the last strike. As this ensured the facility would suffer prolonged damage, this tactic of waiting for Russian emergency response teams to contain the fires before launching another wave of drones maximized the destruction. Ukrainians also launched another secondary strike on the Kremniy microelectronics plant in Bryansk, days after the initial attack.

This crippled one of Russia’s key military electronics manufacturers, which supplies critical components for S-300, S-400, and Iskander missile systems. Next, a drone strike on an oil depot in Voronezh ignited fires that burned for days, only for a secondary strike to cause further destruction.

The Smolensk aviation plant, responsible for producing and upgrading Russian combat aircraft, was also successfully hit by Ukrainian drones, significantly disrupting operations.

Another strike targeted a key storage facility in Oryol, where Russia stockpiles Shahed drones used daily against Ukrainian civilians. Over 200 enemy drones were reportedly destroyed, dealing a major blow to Russia’s strategic striking capabilities.

The last strike occurred in Kazan, where overnight, Ukrainian drones hit a military airfield, an aviation college, and an aircraft plant, where Tu-160 and Tu-22 strategic bombers are produced and repaired.

Russia faces tough military decisions amid rising losses

Overall, Ukraine’s strike campaign is carefully designed to force Russia into an impossible choice. Russia must either prioritize defending its strategic rear infrastructure, such as oil refineries, microelectronics plants, and defense industry facilities, leaving frontline troops vulnerable, or focused on protecting military assets inside Ukraine, exposing vital economic and military infrastructure deep inside Russia to devastating strikes. By systematically degrading Russian air defenses, Ukraine has reduced Russia’s ability to protect both fronts simultaneously, putting them in front of a dreadful dilemma, which leaves key strategic targets more vulnerable to Ukrainian drone and missile attacks. In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Related:

• Strategic oil and military facilities hit in massive drone strike in Russia’s Tver region
• Ukrainian drones strike Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery in 800km range attack
• Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery suspends work after Ukrainian drone attacks
• Forbes: Civilian vehicles replace armored carriers in Russian assaults
• Russian air defenses struggle as Ukrainian drones strike deep behind lines
• Russia’s Ryazan oil depot on fire for second time in days (video)
• Ukraine’s General Staff confirms attack on Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery