‘Air Defense Zoo’: Ukraine Hits 4 Russian SAM Systems Overnight
Unmanned Systems Forces say drones struck four Russian surface-to-air missile defense systems overnight, including a Buk and S-300V, in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Kyiv Post
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Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) struck four Russian self-propelled air defense systems worth millions of dollars overnight on Friday, March 6, according to USF Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi.
“Air defense zoo in one night: Pantsir, TOR, Buk and S-300V. USF birds worked out four enemy self-propelled air defense components in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions,” Brovdi wrote on Telegram, sharing a video of the strikes.
The two-minute video, filmed by drones, appears to show the moments the systems were hit. Kyiv Post was unable to independently verify the time or location of the footage.
According to Brovdi, fighters from the 9th Battalion of the Kairos unit struck a Buk air defense system in the occupied Kherson region and an S-300V medium-range air defense system in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region using a Ukrainian-made FP-2 strike drone equipped with a 60-kg warhead.
The Buk is a medium-range surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, helicopters, and other aerial targets, depending on the version.
According to open sources, the cost of the modernized Buk-M1-2 system is estimated at about $100 million, though it is unclear which version was hit.
The S-300V is a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system designed to protect critical military facilities and large troop formations.
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Unlike more common S-300 variants, the S-300V is a fully self-propelled system with both anti-aircraft and limited anti-missile capabilities, intended to counter aircraft, cruise missiles, and certain ballistic threats.
Meanwhile, Pantsir-S1 and Tor air defense systems were struck by pilots from the 1st Separate USF Center, also using Ukrainian-made FP-2 strike drones, this time carrying 100-kg warheads, Brovdi said.
“Hamsters f***ed. Both were hit in the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region,” Brovdi added.
He stressed that identifying and destroying components of Russia’s long-, medium-, and short-range air defense network remains one of the USF’s top priorities.
The Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name: SA-22 “Greyhound”) is a self-propelled air defense system combining surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. It is designed to protect military, industrial, and administrative facilities from a wide range of airborne threats.
The system can engage aircraft, helicopters, precision-guided munitions, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly at low altitudes.
According to open sources, the export cost of a single Pantsir-S1 unit ranges between $13.15 million and $14.67 million.
Reports last year indicated that Russia had increasingly deployed Pantsir-S1 systems in major cities and in occupied Crimea, likely in response to Ukrainian long-range drone strikes.
The Tor air defense system (NATO reporting name: SA-15 “Gauntlet”) is a Soviet and Russian short-range surface-to-air missile system designed to provide air and missile defense at the divisional level.
The system is capable of intercepting tactical aircraft, helicopters, drones, and cruise missiles. Development of the Tor began in 1972, and the first version entered service in 1986.
Since then, the system has undergone numerous upgrades involving its chassis, missiles, and electronic equipment. An improved version, the Tor-M1, was adopted in 1991.
Madyar did not specify which modification of the system was destroyed, but the estimated cost of a Tor-M1 unit is about $25 million.
Notably, this is not the first successful mission by the USF in which several costly Russian air defense systems were destroyed within a single night or day.
“All three TORs are in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. The operation was carried out simultaneously by the Birds of the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces,” Brovdi said at the time.
Julia Struck is a Deputy Head of News and correspondent for Kyiv Post who has previously worked as a parliamentary editor, journalist, and news editor. She has specialized in covering the work of the Ukrainian parliament, government, and law enforcement agencies.
