$75 million worth of Russian air defenses destroyed as Ukraine attacks multiple Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia

The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) destroyed three Russian Tor-M1 air defense systems, worth a total of $75 million, in the early hours of Friday, February 20, according to USF Chief Robert “Madyar” Brovdi.

"All three TORs are in the occupied part of the Zaporizhia region. The operation was carried out simultaneously by the Birds of the 1st Special Forces Center of Unmanned Systems," said Brovdi, sharing in Telegram a video of the operation that lasted more than 90 seconds.

Kyiv Post could not independently verify the time and location of the video.

Brovdi emphasized that the systematic identification and destruction of enemy air defense components with long, medium, and short ranges remains a priority of the US Armed Forces.

"Overnight minus ~75 million dollars, but first of all – an attack on the near-level air defense worm, which always causes considerable problems. One day those expensive scabies will end," he wrote.

The Tor-M1 is a short-range air defense system capable of detecting and striking multiple targets simultaneously with a maximum range of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), with an estimated cost of $25 million per unit.

In combat conditions, the Tor-M1 was reportedly first used during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, when Georgian units shot down a Russian Tu-22M bomber.

In Ukraine, Tor-M1s were mostly “conserved” in the early 2000s. However, after fighting began in the Donbas region, the Ukrainian army returned some Tor-M1 systems to service.

Open sources also note that after Russia intervened in the conflict in Syria, it deployed Tor-M1 systems to protect its military bases.

Separately, according to a report from General Staff of Ukraine, the Defense Forces struck several Russian positions, including command posts, depots, and troop concentration areas.

It is worth noting that some of these attacks took place in the occupied territories of the Zaporizhia region.

The report specifies that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) command post in the Zlatopil area, a warehouse with material and technical equipment in the village of Bohdanivka, and a Russian repair base in the Rozivka area were hit.

Ukrainian forces also targeted the concentration of Russian manpower near Stepnohirsk.

In the Kherson region, areas near the occupied Lyubimivka and Tendrivska Spit saw attacks on a command and observation post, as well as Russian troop concentrations.

In addition, two warehouses of material and technical equipment were hit: one in Lobanovka (occupied Crimea) and another in Mozhnyakivka (occupied Luhansk region).

"Enemy losses and the extent of damage inflicted are being specified," the report said.

It is worth noting that Ukraine recaptured a total of 63 square kilometers (24.32 square miles) from Russian forces last week, mainly in the Zaporizhia region , according to an analysis of AFP data by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Overall, Kiev regained 91 square kilometers (35.14 square miles), including 86 square kilometers (33.20 square miles) approximately 80 kilometers (49.71 miles) east of the city of Zaporizhia, where Russian troops had made significant advances since the summer of 2025.

Russian forces are said to have captured 28 square kilometers (10.81 square miles) elsewhere along the front, leaving Ukraine with a net gain of 63 square kilometers, its largest territorial recovery in a short period since the counteroffensive in June 2023.

ISW analysts suggested that these Ukrainian counterattacks likely benefited from a recent Starlink outage affecting Russian forces, which disrupted battlefield communications and command and control.

Observers noted that the Russian Starlink antennas were deactivated after Elon Musk announced "measures" to block the Kremlin's use of the technology, which Moscow had reportedly used to bypass electronic jamming and carry out precision attacks.

The Geopost