29 Jan: Wow! 3 Air Defense Divisions Wiped Out In 3 Days! Nothing Left to Stop the Strikes! - Reporting from Ukraine

[TexasTowelie]

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.

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 and 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.

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 Zaporizhia 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.

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, as 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, undermining Russian command and control structure in their offensive operations here.

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 Orel, 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.

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 focus 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 leave...

[Lovie777]

1. Take Russia....

[ancianita]

2. So glad. Ironically, Putin is patiently waiting for the CF to somehow rescue him from failure.

[JMCKUSICK]

3. Snark warning

Does damage to the Kremniy Microelectric plant meam it's name in Russia is now the Criminy Microelectric Plant?
Just curious.

[niyad]

4. Slava Ukraini. Thank you for this encouraging update.

How are you doing?

[TexasTowelie]

5. I'm feeling better.

I managed to get lab work done and I'm meeting with the nephrologist tomorrow. I also set up an appointment next week with my PCP and I also selected another cardiologist since my prior cardiologist retired in November of last year and set up an appointment with him in the middle of February. I did get about 1.5 miles of exercise as I rolled among three buildings and then returned to the apartment.

The really good news is that I had the biennial review of my disability status with SSA. Since my expenses changed significantly from when I provided that information in 2021, I addressed that issue and I'll be seeing over a $300 a month raise on March 1.