Business Insider Ukraine destroyed a prized $500M+ Russian air-defense system with cruise missiles, reports say Read full article Sophia Ankel Updated 14 September 2023 at 7:27 pm · 3-min read A Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system drives past a “Z” symbol before the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, 2023.REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Ukraine destroyed a Russian air-defense system worth in excess of $500 million, reports said Thursday.
The S-400 “Triumf” was taken down using a combination of Neptune missiles and drones, reports said.
Ukraine used drones and missiles to take down an advanced Russian air-defense system worth hundreds of millions of dollars early on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
The advanced S-400 “Triumf” air-defense system was destroyed in a joint operation by Kyiv’s security service (SBU) and navy, the BBC and Reuters reported , citing Ukrainian intelligence sources.
The attack off the coast of Yevpatoriya was orchestrated through the use of aerial drones and Neptune domestic missiles, per Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian official writing on Telegram .
Yevpatoriya is a coastal city in the west of occupied Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
The prominent Russian blogger outlet Rybar reported a possible account of how the attack came off.It wrote that before its attack, Ukraine sent out drones to strike a Russian ship in the Black Sea.
The air-defense system fired its rounds to shoot the drones down, thus revealing its location, Rybar reported.Ukraine waited until it had fired all its ammo, then targeted it with cruise missiles.
Rybar is a prominent pro-Kremlin Russian blogger with more than a million followers.It is rumored to be connected to the Kremlin and the Wagner Group .
Insider was unable to independently verify the Rybar report, which also described the missile system as an S-300 rather than an S-400.
A video circulating on social media shows a large flash as something in the distance appears to explode and catch fire.Plumes of smoke then appear to rise into the night sky.
Insider was unable to independently verify the video.
Russia has not yet commented on the supposed damage, though it did say that its air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight over the peninsula, Reuters reported.
Story continues Its Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Russia’s S-400 mobile long-range surface-to-air system is designed to shoot down aircraft and missiles at long ranges and high altitudes.
The S-400 was built to rival the US-made Patriot air defense system, but at a lower price.
Both the BBC and Bloomberg cited Ukrainian sources suggesting the destroyed system was worth as much as $1.2 billion.
However, other estimates for an S-400 system are lower, closer to $500 million.
Turkey purchased 4 batteries with missiles at a cost of $625 million apiece, a deal that provoked the US to revoke the NATO ally’s access to the F-35 stealth fighter program.
As Insider’s Jake Epstein previously reported , Russia has managed to keep its valuable S-400s out of harm’s way for the most part, despite losing an overwhelming amount of military equipment throughout the conflict.
This would not be the first time Russia accidentally revealed its location by attempting to shoot down Ukrainian targets.
Last week, Ukraine said it was able to attack Russian soldiers after they attempted to shoot down a Ukrainian flag that was attached to helium balloons and flew into occupied territory.
Correction: September 14, 2023 — An earlier version of this story overstated the likely value of an S-400 air-defense system.
Single systems have sold for around $500-600 million, less than the $1.2 billion estimate some outlets attributed to Ukrainian sources.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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