Ukrainian forces destroyed an expensive Russian radar system and hurt Putin's war effort 

In October 2024, Ukrainian forces reportedly desired an expensive Russian radar system. However, footage proving the claim only surfaced in December and it showed the weapons used to destroy the $100 million dollar war machine.

On October 3rd, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed another Russian ‘Nebo-M’ radar station according to a report from the Ukrainian General Staff. 

The Ukrainian General Staff reported the strike across its social media channels but it did not provide any further details about the operation other than announcing Ukraine’s armed forces destroyed another Nebo-M radar system. 

"Its destruction significantly reduces the ability of the Russian army to detect, track, and intercept aerodynamic and ballistic targets," the General Staff report read according to a translation from Newsweek at the time. 

Newsweek could not independently verify the claims but reported that if the news was true it would add the loss of another $100 million dollar radar station to the Kremlin’s already shrinking number of operational systems. 

On December 15th, footage of the alleged Ukrainian attack began circulating on social media. The Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi reported the footage was posted on X by ‘The Times’ journalist Maxim Tucker. 

Photo Credit: X @MaxRTucker

Tucker revealed that Ukraine’s 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, also known as the Black Forest Brigade, spotted the Russian Nebo-M and that US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles were used to eliminate the Russian radar. 

According to the Ukrainian General Staff’s October 3rd report, Russia was only thought to have had ten Nebo-M radar stations remaining. Ukrainian forces previously destroyed another Nebo radar system in a high-profile strike in April 2024. 

Photo Credit: X @MaxRTucker

In May 2024, sources explained to the Kyiv Post that the Security Service of Ukraine attacked and destroyed a Russian Nebo-SVU.  The system was located in the Armyansk and was used to monitor more than 380 kilometers or 236 miles of the frontline. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

“The Russians now have one less modernized Nebo-U complex,” noted the Kyiv Post’s sources. However, there was another earlier attack on a Nebo radar system that made news headlines around the world. 

On April 16th, The Kyiv Independent reported that the Ukrainian Security Service struck and destroyed a Russian Nebo-U long-range radar system inside Russia according to a source from the security service. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0

The radar system was operating from Bryansk Oblast, which is inside of Russia, and Moscow used the radar system to monitor Ukrainian airspace upwards of 434 miles or roughly 700 kilometers past its border, Business Insider reported. 

“The radar is designed to detect, locate, and track various types of aerial targets, from planes to cruise and guided missiles, including small-size supersonic, ballistic, and low-observable targets,” explained Army Recognition. 

“The radar can determine the state affiliation of aerial targets and locate hostile jamming stations. It can operate automatically, independently, and within the unit control system,” Army Recognition added. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin,  CC BY-SA 4.0

Seven kamikaze drones were used in the attack according to a source who spoke with The Kyiv Independent, who added that the radar complex was “no longer operational” following the Ukrainian strike. 

"Thanks to the destruction of this radar, the enemy has fewer opportunities to detect air targets along Ukraine's northern border," the unnamed source told the Ukrainian news outlet before explaining how the strike would help the war. 

Russian "radar blindness" would help as Ukrainian forces conduct reconnaissance, launch drones, and use their air assets in the region the Russian radar system was monitoring “more efficiently” the source also explained. 

The destroyed Russian Nebo-U radar system likely helped the Russian Air Force drop ariel-guided bombs and the Kyiv Independent reported that the upgraded complex also has a price tag of about $100 million dollars. 

However, Business Insider noted the cost of the radar system destroyed may not be as clear as it seems since Russian state media reported that the complex was newer and was rolled out to the Russian Armed Forces eight years prior. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

“Ukraine said this was the second Nebo-U it had destroyed, with the first taken out in Belgorod, a Russian region near the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv,” Business Insiders’ Matthew Loh reported.

“Multiple variations of the Nebo, which translates to ‘sky,’ are used by Russian air and ground forces,” Loh continued, adding that more modern systems include the Nebo-U and Nebo-M.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Boevaya Mashina, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Again, this wasn’t the first Nebo radar system Ukraine has claimed it destroyed since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Newsweek reported that the Ukrainians previously claimed they destroyed a Nebo radar system in September 2023 and another in November 2023.