Ukrainian Forces struck Russia’s only military spaceport, where the Sarmat missile is tested
Ukrainian Forces struck Russia’s only military spaceport, where the Sarmat missile is tested
Ukrainian long-range strike drones executed one of their deepest strategic raids to date, targeting the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s northern Arkhangelsk region—Moscow’s primary military spaceport and critical test site for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The facility serves as the operational center for testing the RS-28 Sarmat heavy ICBM and launching Soyuz-2 and Angara carrier rockets. These vehicles deploy reconnaissance spacecraft and expanding segments of the state-backed Rassvet low-Earth-orbit constellation, designed to provide Russia with an independent alternative to Starlink.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome military launch site. Nguồn: RocketLaunch.org
Local monitoring channels and verified distant footage confirmed heavy smoke rising from the launch complex following air defense alerts across the region. Regional Governor Alexander Tsybulsky urged residents to take shelter and restricted mobile internet access across the area. Reports from the adjacent Pinezhsky district indicated unmanned aerial vehicles tracking across northern flight corridors toward the restricted military installation.
Simultaneously, a joint operation by the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) and Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airbase in Krasnodar Krai on the night of August 20, 2026. Executed by HUR’s Active Operations Department alongside Unmanned Systems units, the long-range strike targeted primary storage, assembly, and launch sites for Shahed-type attack drones operating against Ukrainian infrastructure.
Primorsko-Akhtarsk air base launch facility. Nguồn: Wikimedia Commons
Military assessments confirmed the destruction or severe damage of 18 attack drone storage facilities at the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield and additional sites in occupied Donetsk.
The strike also destroyed two advanced long-range air surveillance radar systems providing early warning coverage over the Sea of Azov region:
Niobiym (Neb-M): A modern 3D meter-range mobile radar system fielded in 2016 to track low-observable and high-altitude targets.
Nebo-U: A long-range 3D meter-range radar station designed for deep airspace monitoring and vectoring air defense interceptors.
By neutralizing strategic radar nodes and drone storage hubs alongside long-range strikes against orbital launch facilities in Arkhangelsk, Ukrainian forces continue to degrade Moscow’s strategic surveillance and strike infrastructure at its source.
