The recordWhat this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.
Record
Conflict relevance
This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the module below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.
Operators
Battlefield role
Long-range strategic air defence — documented throughout the war defending Crimea, the border regions and Moscow; the outer layer of the network that has kept Ukrainian aviation back from the front, with a documented secondary ground-attack role.
Strengths
Very long-range radars and interceptors deny high-altitude approaches across a wide arc; dense integration with Pantsir point defence; the reach to threaten aircraft far behind Ukrainian lines.
Limitations
A high-value target with documented battery losses in Crimea to ATACMS and Neptune strikes; struggles against low-flying drones and naval drones beneath its radar coverage; its marketed reputation and documented performance have diverged publicly over the war.
Campaign relevance
Derived: a participant organisation in these campaigns carries a typed equipment association with this system. That is not the same as documented use of the system in the campaign itself.
- The strategic campaign against Ukraine's electricity system Since October 2022
via Aerospace Forces (VKS) (Documented, high confidence)
Visual identification
8×8 transporter-erector-launchers with four large missile tubes raised vertically when deployed; accompanied by large flat-faced phased-array radar vehicles; deployed as dispersed battery sites, not single vehicles.
Documented conflict use
Engaged throughout the war from Crimea, the border regions and around Moscow; multiple documented battery and radar losses in the 2023–24 Crimea strike campaign; documented use of its missiles in a surface-to-surface role against land targets.
Branch & service operators
- Aerospace Forces (VKS) Documented
Assessed as of2026-06Last reviewed2026-07-11