Defense Express reports that Russian forces in Crimea have now lost a number of expensive radar systems, including the 96L6-AP radar for the S-400 air defense system, the Utes-T air traffic control radar, and the coastal MR-10M1 Mys-1. But footage published on August 31 by Ukraine’s Prymary (Ghosts) unit shows two even more significant targets hit: a GLONASS complex under a radome and the massive RT-70 telescope, also known as P-2500.The RT-70 is an enormous structure — a 70-meter dish, weighing around 5,000 tons and standing 86 meters tall. At first glance, targeting a radio telescope might seem puzzling since such facilities are typically used for scientific research. But Moscow repurposed it immediately after seizing Crimea, turning the Yevpatoria Deep Space Communication Center into the 40th Command and Measurement Complex of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Kremlin poured resources into its modernization, with upgrades planned through 2023.Originally designed in the Soviet era to communicate with planetary probes studying Venus and Mars, the RT-70 was integrated into Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation system. In 2017, the complex’s commander boasted that the telescope was helping manage the constellation and improving GLONASS accuracy by 30 percent. His successor later confirmed the telescope’s role in controlling orbital assets. According to Defense Express, the strike specifically hit the Goliath receiver at the center of the antenna — a rare, high-power system built individually during the Soviet Union. Only two RT-70s were ever completed, making replacement parts extraordinarily difficult and costly to produce.By hitting the 40th complex and disabling the RT-70, Ukraine has likely dealt a serious blow to Russia’s ability to control its satellite group. The damage goes far beyond the loss of a single radar: the telescope’s custom-made equipment costs orders of magnitude more than serial systems like the S-400’s radars. This is also not the first Ukrainian strike on Russia’s space infrastructure. Nearly a year ago, the same site was attacked, and in May 2024 Ukraine used four ATACMS missiles against another deep-space communication antenna near Alushta.