Russia covers Kamchatka subs with anti-drone nets, satellite photos show

The report cited satellite images from Aug. 4 captured by Vantor that show more than half a dozen submarines at the Rybachiy nuclear submarine base on Russia’s Pacific coast covered by anti-drone nets. The base is more than 7,200 kilometers east of Ukraine and is a central hub for Russia’s Pacific Fleet, hosting ballistic missile and attack submarines.

Business Insider said the deployment of these defenses so far from the combat zone suggests Russia views its vulnerability to drone strikes as extending beyond the immediate front lines to its Pacific Fleet.

The UK Defence Ministry, in a recent intelligence report, called the appearance of such structures over submarines in the Pacific “a preemptive measure in response to Ukraine’s increased ability to strike targets located farther from the front line.”

Vantor satellite images from June show Russia also installed anti-drone protection over the conning towers of at least three submarines at the Black Sea naval base in Novorossiysk. That base, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian drones.