Kathrine Frich
Putin recently build seven new towers for air defence around his own palace.
Modern warfare relies heavily on air defense systems, but questions are emerging about how effective some of those defenses really are in practice.
A former Russian officer has now come forward with claims that paint a far less capable picture.
Doubts emerge
Ivan Navalyshen, a former commander in Russia’s 71st Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, has claimed that the country’s reported air defense successes were often exaggerated, according to The Insider cited by WP.
He said that in some cases, soldiers launched missiles without clear targets and later presented recordings as proof of success.
Navalyshen described an incident in which Russian forces claimed to have intercepted a Storm Shadow missile.
According to him, the situation was unclear enough that the FSB was sent to investigate what had actually been hit.
He believes a different missile may have been destroyed instead.
Low effectiveness
The former officer estimated that the true effectiveness of Russian air defenses was significantly lower than officially reported.
He placed the success rate at around 10–15 percent.
During operations near Kyiv in 2022, he said his unit did not shoot down any Ukrainian aircraft.
Navalyshen criticized the equipment used by Russian forces, describing it bluntly.
“The equipment used is extremely outdated,” the Russian said.
He also claimed that his brigade may have caused more damage to its own side than to Ukrainian forces.
Friendly fire incident
He recounted an incident in 2024 in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where orders to track Ukrainian aircraft led to losses on the Russian side.
According to his account, three pieces of Russian equipment were destroyed and four soldiers were killed.
Navalyshen said many of the drones his unit intercepted were decoys.
Those that were actually combat-capable often continued flying toward their targets.
He claimed soldiers could hear drones overhead as they moved toward Crimea.
Sources: The Insider, WP.
