Ukraine strikes Russian Buk air defenses, destroys radar guidance system
Ukrainian forces destroyed radar guidance equipment of a Buk-M2 air defense system and struck a Buk-M3 system overnight on Oct. 25 in the occupied part of Luhansk Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said.
The attack was carried out by Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and other military units. The General Staff did not elaborate on other possible damage apart from the destroyed guidance system.
The Russian targets were hit "several dozens of kilometers behind the front line," the statement read.
Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range air defense systems developed in the 1970s in the Soviet Union. The Buk-M2 and M3 are modernized variants, capable of shooting down aerial targets like tactical ballistic missiles at a range of 50 and 65 kilometers, respectively (30 and 40 miles).
Russian proxy forces used a Buk missile to shoot down the MH17 Malaysian airliner over Donetsk Oblast on July 17, 2014, in the early months of the Donbas War.
Ukraine previously destroyed a Buk-M3 system overnight on Oct. 21, the military said.
Ukrainian forces have destroyed 982 Russian anti-aircraft systems throughout the full-scale war, the General Staff said in its regular morning report on Oct. 25.
Asami Terajima
