Key military sites in Russia’s far north appear to have been deprived of their air defense assets, recent satellite images show, as the Kremlin attempts to counter an increasingly damaging Ukrainian drone campaign targeting sites elsewhere in the country.Satellite images sourced by RFE/RL show the Kremlin has shuffled units from several strategic sites once heavily protected by S-300 and S-400 missile systems, leaving little apparent air defense in place.
A missile base near the Rogachevo airfield seen in September 2019 (left), when multiple launch vehicles and radars were in place, and July 2026.
Around the Rogachevo air base in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago of Russia’s Arctic region, a missile base that has been in place since at least August 2015 has had most of its air defense assets removed, a July 6 image shows.Katarzyna Zysk, a professor with the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies told RFE/RL that the apparent disappearance of many air defense assets from Russia’s far north represents “a growing mismatch between the targets Russia must protect and its available launchers, interceptors, and trained personnel.”
A missile battery that stood to the south of the Rogachevo air base, seen in July 2022 (top) and July 2026.
