Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) put 12 Russian air defense systems out of action in the first two weeks of April, the SBS reported on 14 April — the latest fortnight in a sustained campaign of air defense attrition that has been intensifying throughout 2026. Four units coordinating through Ukraine's Deep Strike Center struck short-range Tor-M1 and short-to-medium-range Pantsir-S1 systems, ammunition depots, logistics hubs, and a Southern Military District rear base across occupied Mariupol and other locations in Donetsk Oblast, as well as elsewhere in the occupied parts of Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
What was struck and when
On 10 April, pilots of the 9th Battalion Kairos of the 414th Separate Brigade Madyar's Birds destroyed a SAM system Tor-M1 in Mariupol, struck a surface-to-air missile and gun system Pantsir-S1 in Donetsk Oblast, and hit a rear base of units of Russia's Southern Military District in Donetsk Oblast. The 413th Separate Regiment Raid destroyed a logistics hub in Zaporizhzhia Oblast the same day.
On 13 April, pilots of the 1st Separate Operations Center of the SBS put another Tor-M1 out of action in Luhansk Oblast. The border guard unit Feniks destroyed an ammunition depot also in Luhansk Oblast the same day.
12 air defense systems — and the broader picture
The 12 SAM systems were the high-value thread in a wider campaign. Over the same 14-day period, SBS says its units struck a total of 18,336 targets, including 4,400 personnel. On 14 April alone, SBS units struck 1,544 targets in a single day: 433 personnel of whom 208 were eliminated, 75 drone launch points, 24 artillery systems, 83 motor vehicles, 40 motorcycles, 200 enemy UAVs, one tank, and one additional air defense system.
SBS commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi sarcastically wrote alongside the video of the latest strikes that the diverse variety of targets of the SBS Birds is united by one thing — the "rhythmicity" of hits.
All operations were conducted in coordination with Ukraine's Deep Strike Center. The command noted that Russia's supply system is under sustained pressure across the entire frontline, and that personnel elimination remains a separate operational priority running in parallel with air defense attrition.
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