WESTERN INTELLIGENCE HELPED UKRAINE REWRITE THE RULES OF DEEP STRIKES
According to the Financial Times, intelligence provided by the United States and France has played a key role in helping Ukraine penetrate Russia’s increasingly dense air defense network.
The report says Western intelligence enabled Ukraine to map the locations of Russian air defense systems, identify gaps in coverage, and plan routes that allow long-range drones to fly around radar and missile batteries before striking targets deep inside Russian territory.
That intelligence has become one of Ukraine’s greatest force multipliers.
Launching a long-range drone is only half the challenge.
The real difficulty is navigating hundreds of kilometers through one of the world’s largest integrated air defense networks, avoiding radar stations, electronic warfare systems, fighter aircraft, and surface-to-air missile batteries before reaching the intended target.
Instead of flying in a straight line, Ukrainian drones often take complex routes, weaving around known air defense positions and exploiting gaps in Russia’s radar coverage. The result has been an increasing number of successful strikes against oil refineries, military airfields, logistics hubs, industrial plants, and defense factories hundreds—and sometimes more than a thousand—kilometers from Ukraine.
The growing success of these operations helps explain why Russia has struggled to stop them despite investing heavily in air defenses.
Even the most sophisticated air defense system has limitations.
It cannot be everywhere at once, and when its locations become known, planners can search for weak points and exploit them.
The cooperation also highlights how Ukraine’s partners are contributing in ways that go far beyond supplying weapons.
Intelligence sharing, satellite imagery, electronic surveillance, and battlefield analysis have become just as important as missiles and ammunition in modern warfare.
Ukraine builds the drones. Its partners help provide the information. Together, they have transformed long-range strikes from isolated attacks into a sustained campaign that is forcing Russia todefend thousands of kilometers of territory. In modern war, information can be every bit as powerful as firepower.