Ukrainian drones destroyed a $100 million long-range radar system operated by Russia in Crimea overnight Thursday, according to a report.
The Nebo-SVU system was used by Moscow to monitor about 235 miles of the front and protected Russian facilities in the Crimean peninsula, Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources.
The radar system, in Armiansk, a town in the north of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, has been shut down and has not been brought back online, the report said.
"This operation 'blinded' Russian air defenses on a large segment of the front," the source told the Kyiv Independent.
This battlefield development comes as U.S. President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the OK to use American-made weapons to strike targets inside Russia, but cautioned that the arms should be used for "counterfire purposes" to defend its second-largest city of Kharkiv from Russian attacks.
The Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014.
