NewsUkrainian forces obliterate £200m Russian war assets in key strike

Ukrainian forces obliterate £200m Russian war assets in key strike

Rebels in action. They destroyed a key Russian system.
Rebels in action. They destroyed a key Russian system.
Images source: © X | HUR
Jakub Artych

7 July 2024 17:03

As emphasized by Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), on Saturday, 6 July, the Russian electronic warfare system R-330Zh Zhitel was destroyed. The Ukrainians also targeted a logistics centre where Russians stored equipment and ammunition. The occupiers lost equipment worth £200 million again.

On Saturday, 6 July 2024, soldiers from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, in cooperation with the aerial reconnaissance unit of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade, discovered and inflicted fire damage on two Russian military facilities.

All of this took place in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. In the town of Debaltseve, they hit a logistics centre where the invaders stored equipment for tanks and ammunition. However, Moscow lost significantly more valuable equipment.

Once again, the Ukrainians managed to destroy the Russian electronic warfare and jamming system, the valuable R-330Zh "Zhitel". This equipment is worth up to £200 million and plays an extremely important role on the front. It is also heavily guarded. Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainians have managed to destroy about 20 such systems.

The system is mobile - mounted on a truck chassis, which can go anywhere on the battlefield.

Russian armed forces put the R-330Zh Zhitel systems into operation in 2008, with tasks that included: detecting, analysing, and jamming radio emissions. According to the Russians, the system can operate in the frequency range of 100 to 2000 MHz, and setting it up or taking it down takes about 40 minutes.

The complete set, including telescoping antennas, is mounted on a Ural-43203 truck platform, which is also equipped with a generator and a fuel reserve allowing the system to function independently for up to 67 days.

The range of the R-330Zh Zhitel system declared by Russia is about 26 km for ground targets, and for aerial targets at higher altitudes, it can be up to twice as large.

The Russian system also has the ability to take control of drones or locate control stations, enabling them to be targeted with artillery fire. This poses a significant threat to Ukrainian drone operators.