Russia May Be Preparing Massive Strikes Against Western Ukraine — ISW
Russia is expanding its network of launch sites for long-range strike drones, which may indicate preparations for new large-scale attacks. According to the ISW, western Ukraine could be one of the possible targets for Russian forces.
At the same time, analysts note that strikes on the western regions may be just one of the directions of Russia’s future attacks.
The Telegraph recently reported that Russia has built 59 new drone launch rails at 10 different bases along its border with Ukraine and Belarus.
It is worth noting that each such base can hold more than 1,000 drones.
According to U.S. analysts, Russia’s latest actions may indicate preparations to intensify attacks on Ukraine.
It cannot be ruled out that these capabilities could also be used in the future to strike NATO countries.
ISW also draws attention to the characteristics of the new launch structures. Approximately 20 of them are quite long, which may indicate that they are intended for launching “Geran-4” and “Geran-5” jet drones.
The estimated flight ranges of these drones are:
"Geran-4" – 450 to 850 km;
"Geran-5" – from 950 to 1,000 km.
All of this gives the enemy the ability to launch a significantly larger number of long-range drones during massive attacks.
Analysts suggest that Russia plans to strike targets in the western regions of Ukraine.
In addition, the drones’ higher speed and greater survivability could complicate the work of Ukraine’s air defense forces.
Moving launch sites further into Russian territory may serve another purpose—to protect the drone infrastructure from Ukrainian strikes.
The Ukrainian military has previously attacked Russian launch sites near occupied Donetsk, so establishing new sites at a greater distance could increase their survivability.
Moreover, the enemy may integrate the new launch sites with its “Rassvet” satellite constellation, which is considered the Russian equivalent of Starlink.
This would likely enable more precise strikes against Ukrainian air defense systems and other rear-area targets from various directions.
This is reported with reference to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The ISW has revealed striking figures on Ukraine’s strikes against Russia, and they continue to rise.
Drones attacked railway infrastructure in Bryansk: the aftermath of the strike is shown
Ukrainian UAVs attacked an oil pumping station near Yaroslavl
