Israel’s recent powerful airstrikes on Iran have sparked growing concern among Russian military analysts, who note disturbing parallels between Iran’s failing air defense systems and Russia’s own troubled track record in Ukraine.
The Israeli operation penetrated deep into Iranian territory, destroying critical air defense assets without meeting meaningful resistance. In response, Russian observers are publicly questioning the reliability of their own air defense systems—many of which share technological roots with Iran’s.
Commentary across Russian-language military forums and pro-Kremlin channels suggests that Israel’s success has reinforced existing doubts about Russia’s ability to withstand a coordinated assault from a technologically advanced adversary like NATO.
While Ukraine relied on relatively cost-effective systems—such as HIMARS, drones, and aging AGM-88 HARM missiles—Israel used advanced cruise missiles and layered aerial strike strategies. Despite the technological and scale differences, both situations revealed striking vulnerabilities in Russian and Iran-linked air defense architectures, which are based on older-generation systems.