Ukraine War Leaves Russia's Border With China Weakened

Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Kyiv has left his country's southern border with quasi-ally China exposed, satellite imagery has revealed, with a number of air defense missile systems likely relocated to the Ukraine front.

AS-22, an account on X, formerly Twitter, posted a series of satellite images on July 5, showing the number of S-300 and S-400 air defense missile transporter erector launchers (TELs) at bases east of Novosibirsk, a region located in southwestern Siberia.

The S-300 and S-400 are Russian-made mobile, surface-to-air missile systems, capable of shooting down aircraft as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. The S-400 is roughly comparable to the American Patriot air defense system in Ukrainian service, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Missile Defense Project.

AS-22, which specializes in imagery intelligence and open-source intelligence, claimed that since Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, around 105 TELs deployed at 11 Russian bases have been moved. For instance, in Khabarovsk, located 19 miles from the Russia-China border, 11 out of the 17 TELs deployed at the base were relocated, AS-22 observed.

On the island of Sakhalin, located just 25 miles north of Japan's island of Hokkaido, all seven TELs were moved from their base.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the satellite images and has reached out to Russia's Ministry of Defense via email for comment.

Ukraine has repeatedly used long-range weapons, including domestically manufactured drones, to carry out cross-border strikes on Russian soil, forcing Moscow to strengthen its air defense capability along its southwestern border.

It is not the first time Russia has removed air defense missile systems from their bases during the war. Some that were deployed on its Far East islands of Iturup and Kunashir (Etorofu and Kunashiri in Japanese) were also removed, according to analysis of satellite images, Japan's Kyodo News reported in August 2023.

The islands are part of the disputed Southern Kuril Islands, which are also claimed by Japan.

The air defense equipment was likely redeployed to Russia's border with Ukraine, the report cited lecturer Yu Koizumi at the University of Tokyo as saying.

Satellite images also indicated a number of air defense missiles were relocated from Russia's northwestern region around St. Petersburg toward Ukraine, Finland's broadcaster Yle reported in September 2022.

Russia faces high demand for precision standoff land attack weapons as it continues to bombard Ukraine, with Kyiv claiming that Russia's military has re-purposed S-300 surface-to-air missiles for ground attacks.

S-300 missiles used as a surface-to-surface weapons are difficult for Ukrainian air defense units to intercept because of their speed and quasi-ballistic missile attack mode, defense news website The War Zone reported.

Redeploying air defense missile systems from other parts of the country allows Russia to use them as both defensive and offensive weapons for its war in Ukraine.