Did Ukraine's strike on a Russian radar cross Moscow's nuclear "red line"?

Kyiv was reported to have attacked the over-the-horizon radar 29B6 in Mordovia, according to Ukrainian Pravda, citing sources in the Ukrainian military intelligence. This system is part of the nuclear early warning system. "Drone attacks on a Russian radar site may have crossed one of Moscow's red lines for potential nuclear weapons," emphasizes Newsweek.

The attack occurred on Wednesday, April 17. A Ukrainian Ministry of Defence source reports that the target was a radio-technical center of military unit 84680, located in the Russian city Kovylkino in Mordovia.

Drones attacked over-the-horizon radar 29B6 "Container" in Kovylkino, which is capable of detecting targets up to about 3,000 km away and at altitudes over 100 km. It is part of the reconnaissance and early warning system against aerial attacks.

On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported the destruction of a drone in that region. The republic's Governor, Artem Zdunov, explained that an unmanned vehicle had attacked a certain object again.

Unmanned aerial vehicles first flew to Mordovia on April 11. Astra wrote that the same military unit, 84680, was the target. A building where a command post had previously been located was damaged.

A video of the attack was published on social media. An explosion can be heard in one of them, and a column of smoke can be seen. The distance from the Ukrainian border to the site of destruction is about 680 km.

As the magazine points out, if the radar was indeed damaged, Russia could claim that one of the conditions for the possible use of nuclear weapons, outlined in the decree of the Russian dictator, has been met. The provision refers to "the enemy's impact on critical state or military facilities of the Russian Federation, the failure of which will lead to the disruption of the response actions of nuclear forces."

Moreover, damaging early warning systems could theoretically prevent "receipt of reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles" as well as "the enemy's use of nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction on the territories of the Russian Federation and (or) its allies and (or) its allies," lists Newsweek.

In 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that thanks to the "Container" in Mordovia, it would be able to track take-offs of carrier-based aircraft in the Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean Seas, as well as launches of hypersonic missiles aimed at Russian targets.