Ukraine systematically destroys air defences near Putin’s "palace": EW and S-400 hit

Ukraine systematically destroys air defences near Putin’s "palace": EW and S-400 hit

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are consistently destroying Russian air defence systems in the Gelendzhik area, where Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “palace” is located. On August 7, the “Volna Kupol Garant” electronic warfare system was struck near the facility, and two days later, the nearby S-400 surface-to-air missile system was hit.

The Moscow Times reports this.

The destruction of the EW system, located on the territory of military unit No. 2156, was confirmed by satellite images. The “Volna Kupol Garant” is used to jam Starlink satellite communications, protecting an area of 20 km². According to military analyst Yan Matveyev, the system is effective against drones, but its drawback is that it is the size of a “small military base and easily recognizable from the air.”

The destruction of the EW system opened the way for Ukrainian drones to the S-400 located 500 meters away. Commander of the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi (“Magyar”) said that they struck the SAM system, which was launching six missiles at once, on the night of August 9. The fire on the S-400 lasted three hours. “The satellite image shows the destruction of at least one launcher… That’s it, now Putin’s ‘palace’ is left unprotected,” says Matveyev.

Putin’s “palace” is located on the Black Sea coast about 20 km from Gelendzhik. The 17,700 m² complex gained wide popularity after an investigation by Alexei Navalny, founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. According to his data, the facility includes a church, a hockey rink, a cinema, a karaoke hookah lounge, a beer hall, a billiards room, several restaurants, a swimming pool, an aqua disco, a spa center, saunas, Turkish baths, its own meat, fish, vegetable, and dessert workshops, a medicinal mud storage facility, a library, a music lounge, a helipad, and more.

A no-fly zone has been established over the “palace,” and the adjacent 7,000 hectares, according to the investigation, belong to the FSB. The FBK estimated the construction cost of the complex at a minimum of 100 billion rubles.