Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra, in an interview with ANI, said that it was because of the Russian S-400 air defence system that Pakistani jets could not reach within 200 kilometres of the Indian border during Operation Sindoor.

Mishra said that Pakistan was “desperate” to find out where the S-400s were located and had activated spies and sleeper cells in order to reach them.

“Pakistanis were desperate to find where these S-400s were. They used every trick in the book. They were also getting satellite help from other nations,” Mishra said.

Although he did not name the nations, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Rahul R. Singh had earlier said that China was providing its ‘all-weather friend’ Pakistan with real-time inputs about India’s important vectors.

“Every time they (Pakistan) got airborne, they were shot by an S-400. The S-400 was the biggest threat as far as they were concerned. They also activated spies and sleeper cells within India to find out where the S-400s were located,” the air marshal said.

The S-400 air defence system, also called India’s “Sudarshan Chakra”, is a highly advanced, mobile, long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by Russia.

Considered one of the most effective air defence platforms in operation globally, it is engineered to establish a multi-layered defensive dome against a broad spectrum of modern aerial threats.

Operation Sindoor was a series of precision military strikes launched by India on the night of 7-8 May 2025, in direct retaliation for the devastating Pahalgam terror attack that killed 25 Indian tourists.

Mishra said that although the Indian Army was given a free hand from the government, they were told to avoid civilian casualties.

“The direction was there should be no collateral. We don’t want common citizens to be affected. Only terrorists and their handlers are to be punished. We are not a war-mongering state,” Mishra said.

“There was not a single restriction. It was left to the military to decide how to fight the war,” he added.

The Air Marshal also said that India could hit anywhere in Pakistan, but it could do nothing about it. 

“The only way they could see was through an airborne radar. My S-400 operator asked me if he could shoot. I said, ‘Shoot.’ And when he shot, we got it at 314 km,” he said.

Mishra said that the shot was the longest surface-to-air kill in history.

India and Russia signed a $5.43 billion deal for five S-400 missile systems in 2018.