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Double Blow to Putin’s Air Shield—Ukraine Destroys Buk-M3 and Osa Systems in the South
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Ukrainian Southern Defense Forces report they destroyed two key Russian air-defense systems yesterday: a Buk-M3 medium-range surface-to-air missile system and an Osa short-range anti-aircraft complex, the Army announced on November 13.
According to the command’s tally, Russian losses in the past 24 hours include: 239 soldiers, 1 tank, the Buk-M3 system, the Osa system, 4 artillery systems, 22 vehicles, 2 electronic warfare systems, 1 radar station, 1 engineering vehicle, 3 communications antennas—along with 1 quad bike, 5 motorcycles, 1 buggy and 3 electric scooters. They also say 37 personnel shelters were destroyed and their air-defense troops shot down 30 Shahed-136/131 attack drones.
The Buk-M3 is one of Russia’s most capable medium-range SAMs. The system’s estimated value is roughly US $45 million. It is capable of intercepting aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles at ranges of up to 70 kilometers.
Osa family remains a core element of Russia’s forward army air-defense screen, and that, since the full-scale invasion began, Russian forces have lost at least 32 Osa-type systems to destruction or capture—a tally attributed to Ukrainian tracking and battlefield reporting.
The Soviet-era 9K33 Osa (NATO: SA-8 “Gecko”) is a highly mobile, short-range air-defense system built as an all-in-one TELAR that integrates search/tracking radar and a six-round launcher on a wheeled chassis.
Designed to protect ground forces from low- and medium-altitude threats, upgraded Osa variants such as the Osa-AKM remain in frontline service for point defense of formations and logistics nodes.
Earlier, Ukrainian special operations forces, working jointly with the Russian resistance movement Chornaya Iskra (“Black Spark”), carried out a cross-border strike that destroyed a Russian Buk-M3 air defense launcher and damaged a Nebo-U radar system in Russia’s Rostov region.
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