Key military facilities in Russia's Far North have likely been left with little air defense coverage as the Kremlin redeploys air defense systems to protect regions increasingly targeted by Ukrainian drones.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing an analysis of satellite imagery, the Kremlin has relocated air defense units from several strategic sites that had previously been protected by S-300 and S-400 systems. Only a minimal number of air defense assets are believed to remain at those locations.
Open-source data indicate that about 60% of Russia's S-300 systems and the more modern S-400 systems have been moved from their pre-war deployment sites. At the same time, air defense units have largely remained in place around nuclear missile silos and strategic aviation bases.
Satellite images dated July 6 show that most surface-to-air missile systems have been removed from air defense positions near the Rogachevo air base on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, where they had been stationed since at least 2015.
A similar pattern has been observed in Severodvinsk on the White Sea, where Russia builds and repairs nuclear-powered submarines. Nearly two dozen S-300 and S-400 systems have disappeared from positions surrounding the city that had protected the strategic facility for decades.
