EDF colonel: Air defenses cannot make Russia drone-proof

"Successful Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries definitely have an impact on the events on the front line. The Russians have to consider that, due to their huge territory, there will always be more strategically important objects than there are air defense systems that can protect them," said Col. Mart Vendla deputy chief of the Estonian Defense Forces' (EDF) General Staff, on ETV show "Ukraina stuudio."
Both the drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, as well as the attacks carried out by Russian volunteers fighting on Ukraine's side but on the Russian side of the border, created a lot of confusion ahead of the Russian presidential elections.
According to Col. Mart Vendla, the past week has certainly been successful for the Ukrainians. The colonel also pointed out how impressive it has been for Ukrainian forces to attack targets situated so far inside Russian territory.
"These have been carried out in very different ways. Some drones were launched from Ukrainian territory and some from within Russia, which points to a local infiltrated structure. The Russian security forces definitely have cause for concern," Col. Vendla said.
The EDF colonel noted that the three objects hit in Samara account for around ten percent of Russia's total oil refining capacity. "If you add together the attacks that happened a few days earlier and the most recent one on Sunday morning in Krasnodar Krai, then these numbers add up nicely, and that will help to slow down [Russia's] war effort," he said.
"Successful attacks on oil refineries definitely have an impact on operations on the front line as well," Col. Vendla added. "The enemy is certainly claiming with a straight face that there is no impact. However, when we look at the percentages, then ten, 12, or 15 percent of refining capacity is significaant. It takes a relatively long time to recover from that," he said, adding that the refineries hit in the third week of January have not been yet able to resume production.
Col. Vendla also referred to the emotional and mental impact of the attacks on oridinary Russians.
"This is not a small operation that is just ticking away somewhere in the background, but it reaches all the way to Moscow. In this sense, it pressures the security forces and also the military decision-makers, to move air defense systems in order to protect internal objects. And there will always be more objects that need protection than there are air defense systems. The air defense coverage then becomes thinner nearer the front line. And this creates an opportunity for the Ukrainians," Col. Vendla explained.
Col. Vendla added that because Russia is huge and sparsely populated, its so-called air defense bubbles can only be established over certain objects. In that sense, Russia's air defenses might be compared to Swiss cheese.
"There are areas which do not have air defenses. Covering Russia in a way that it becomes drone-proof, in my opinion, is not possible," the colonel said.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Michael Cole
Source: "Ukraina stuudio," interviewer Epp Ehand