Russia Sends Long-Range Rockets, Missiles, Artillery and Air Defenses to Ukrainian Border

Video Above: Video Interview: Is the U.S. Able to Defend Against Hypersonic Weapons?

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Long-range rockets, artillery and missiles, special operations units and even air-and-missile defenses are among the combat assets now being moved by Russia to the Ukrainian border, a sign that any potential military campaign might be able to draw upon a wide sphere of attack possibilities.

This dynamic was addressed at the Pentagon by DoD spokesman John Kirby who said that the forces themselves being moved by Russia are significant by themselves, but that additional variables such as the type of weapons being moved into position are also of great relevance.

“But what’s important is not just the numbers, it’s the capabilities. And what we see is that he is really putting in place robust – what we would call Combined Arms Capabilities in Belarus, and along that border with Ukraine in Russia. That means not just infantry, or tracked vehicles, but artillery and long-range fires, and air and missile defense, as well as special operations,” Kirby told reporters, according to a Pentagon transcript of his remarks.

Long range fires, for example, can be used to enable a deeper, longer-extending invasion of a territory, as they are typically used to “soften up” or destroy defenses from safer stand-off ranges to better enable infantry and armored vehicles to advance on an enemy. Mobile air and missile defenses also contribute to this equation as they could give advancing forces an opportunity to defend against incoming rockets, artillery and missiles intended to disrupt or stop their forward advancement. 

Russian air defenses such as S-400s for example, are road mobile and can travel on the back of large trucks in support of advancing ground forces. The intent here would of course be to diffuse, stop or fend off air attacks upon maneuvering armored units. An interesting report in The National Interest cites a Russian Ministry of Defense statement announcing that Russian S-400 air defenses have been sent to Belarus for exercises.