In its war on Ukraine, is Russia’s vast size becoming a liability?

Kyiv, Ukraine – A formation from Moscow to the Pacific larboard of Vladivostok takes astir 9 hours – a home formation that covers two-thirds of Russia’s span betwixt the Baltic and the Pacific.

There are astir 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) from eastbound to westbound successful Russia, which is 17 cardinal quadrate kilometres (6.6 cardinal quadrate miles), comprising 11 percent of the Earth’s landmass – a spot much than the areas of China, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia enactment together.

Even though two-thirds of it is permafrost, the sheer vastness utilized to prevention Russia from invasions, beryllium it Napoleon’s Grand Army successful 1812 oregon the 3.8 cardinal soldiers of Nazi Germany and its allies successful 1941.

However, arsenic the warfare with Ukraine, a erstwhile state whose Cossack armies erstwhile spearheaded czarist conquests, grinds into its 4th year, Russia’s size has go a liability.

“Russia’s territory offers maximal capabilities for strikes,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, erstwhile lawman main of Ukraine’s wide unit of equipped forces, told Al Jazeera sarcastically.

Ukrainians – from apical brass to civilian volunteers assembling drones successful their garages – rewrite the rules of warfare and constitute disconnected Russia’s obsolete stratagems.

These days, Kyiv proves regular that the borderline betwixt Russia and Ukraine that stretches astir 2,000 kilometres (1,230 miles) is penetrable successful some directions.

It carved retired toeholds successful 2 occidental Russian regions – Kursk and Bryansk – that distract tens of thousands of servicemen.

Meanwhile, Moscow’s Soviet-era aerial defence systems, designed to intercept NATO missiles, are dispersed excessively bladed crossed occidental Russia and often beryllium helpless against progressively blase Ukrainian drone attacks.

“If a radical of radical is nonrecreational and motivated enough, it’ll ever find a mode to execute a goal, and that’s thing the SBU proved,” Romanenko said, referring to the Ukrainian Security Service, the main quality bureau that has conducted dozens of stings successful Russia.

On June 1, the SBU executed Operation Spiderweb, a monolithic drone onslaught that reached Siberia for the archetypal clip since the full-scale penetration began successful 2022.

Ukrainian drones – perchance smuggled from Kazakhstan – flew retired of a motortruck adjacent the Belaya airbase successful the Irkutsk region, astir 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) eastbound of the Ukrainian border, to destruct oregon harm respective strategical bombers.

The aforesaid sting targeted bombers successful the Amur region, 7,500 kilometres (4,660 miles) eastbound of Ukraine, and lone a method glitch saved the bombers connected the Ukrainka (“Ukrainian woman”) airstrip.

The sting “is a acquisition that subject bases, successful warzones and astatine home, are present much susceptible than ever to cheap, easy hidden and rapidly deployed weapons that tin look with small notice,” Mick Ryan, a retired Australian wide and chap astatine the Lowy Institute, a subject deliberation vessel successful Sydney, wrote.

The standard and boldness of Kyiv’s campaigns connected Russian ungraded travel humiliating defeats.

Moscow was emboldened by the 2014 annexation of Crimea, erstwhile Ukrainian troops and constabulary were ordered to surrender authorities buildings and subject bases without firing a azygous changeable – and galore joined the occupants.

Weeks later, Moscow-backed separatists seized a 3rd of the southeastern Donbas portion and pushed retired Ukrainian forces.

So, successful 2022, Moscow expected a blitzkrieg, and the thought of defending its ain territories whitethorn not person occurred to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his apical brass.

“They didn’t deliberation astir it astatine all, they didn’t program a agelong operation,” Volodymyr Fesenko, caput of the Kyiv-based Penta deliberation tank, told Al Jazeera. “Moscow didn’t expect Ukraine to defy for truthful agelong and to onslaught backmost connected Russian territories truthful effectively.”

Moreover, Ukrainian drones people sites successful Moscow and the surrounding region, wherever galore subject plants and bases are concentrated.

In May 2023, 2 Ukrainian drones exploded implicit the Kremlin somewhat damaging 1 of the palaces.

Two years later, swarms of Ukrainian drones buzz implicit Moscow suburbs regularly.

“I cherish nights without aerial raid sirens,” a pistillate who requested anonymity and lives southwest of Moscow told Al Jazeera.

Civilian flights are delayed oregon cancelled successful occidental Russia truthful often that immoderate travellers instrumentality a bid to airports successful bluish Kazakhstan.

Apart from hitting subject sites, Ukraine began targeting the backbone of Russia’s economy.

Dozens of strikes connected lipid refineries and pipelines disrupted astir a sixth – 14 percent – of Russia’s lipid refining capacity, the Pentagon’s defence quality bureau said successful mid-May.

A effect to Russia’s run to destruct Ukraine’s vigor infrastructure, the strikes prompted a six-month prohibition connected petrol exports, drove up home substance prices by 30 percent and triggered the import of petrol from neighbouring Belarus.

The attacks were truthful devastating that Washington bristled astatine Kyiv for driving up planetary lipid prices.

Kyiv besides exploits Russia’s over-reliance connected railroad proviso lines successful a state of notoriously potholed roads.

On May 30, 2 bridges collapsed successful the Kursk and Bryansk regions successful occidental Russia, causing 2 trains to derail, sidesplitting 7 and wounding 69 people.

Moscow blamed Ukraine and called the explosions “terrorist attacks.”

Some analysts, however, accidental that Kyiv’s strikes connected Russia are excessively belated, insufficient and unfocused to origin superior damage.

Ukraine “has agelong ignored outdoor ammunition depots but symbolically and senselessly struck Moscow,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera.

When it did commencement hitting the depots and airbases, Russia responded by gathering hangars and relocating planes to adjacent much distant airfields, helium said.

“The main question is what Ukraine tin destruct without the anticipation of restoring, oregon volition pb to immense one-time losses for Russia,” helium said. “And that’s wherever I don’t spot existent successes.”

But retired wide Romanenko thinks that the existent successes prevarication ahead.

“We deficiency tools,” helium said, referring to Ukrainian-made missiles and much blase drones that are yet to beryllium mass-manufactured. “Once we person the tools – Putin volition beryllium much realistic, for helium lone understands force.”