In May 2026, according to confirmed reports from the General Staff, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck at least three dozen high-value components of Russia’s air defense and radar network. The list also included several warships and boats, aritime patrol aircraft, Iskander operational-tactical missile systems, communications hubs, drone command centers, and other costly specimens from the showcase collection of Russia’s defense-industrial complex.
The geography of the strikes was no less remarkable. In addition to the usual locations featured in such reviews—Crimea and the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions—Ukrainian strike assets regularly visited Russia’s Bryansk and Rostov regions, Krasnodar Krai, and even the waters of the Baltic and Caspian seas.
And while Russian propaganda was still talking about an “impregnable rear” just two years ago, today even warships in distant Kaspiysk, Dagestan—more than 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine—are becoming acquainted with Ukrainian drones at a range far closer than they would prefer.
This Ukrinform review takes a look at the grand May barbecue that Ukrainian defenders served up for some of the most heavily promoted products of Russia’s defense industry.
