Novaya Gazeta Europe analyzed state procurement data on anti-drone spending by Russian companies and found that they have spent a total of 17 billion rubles on drone defense since the start of the full-scale war.
Russian authorities’ top priority in drone defense is protecting infrastructure that supplies electricity, heat, and water to Russian homes.
The state-owned company Rosseti, which operates Russia’s power transmission lines, was the largest buyer of anti-drone systems. Rosseti and its subsidiaries spent more than three billion rubles on anti-drone equipment. Mosvodokanal ranked second, spending 1.7 billion rubles.
Inter RAO, another energy company, also ranked among the largest buyers of drone-defense systems, spending 1.3 billion rubles to combat drones.
Russian authorities also place particular emphasis on protecting civilian airports from drones. Sheremetyevo Airport and the State Air Traffic Management Corporation were among the largest buyers of drone-defense equipment.
Novaya Gazeta Europe said hundreds of millions of rubles are being spent on protecting airports from drones even in parts of Russia farthest from Ukraine. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport, for example, purchased anti-drone equipment for about 300 million rubles.
At the end of August, Russia’s president signed a decree allowing temporary management to be imposed on critical infrastructure facilities whose owners fail to protect them from security threats, including Ukrainian drone attacks. According to the decree, the temporary administrator will be Rosimushchestvo (the Federal Agency for State Property Management) or “another entity” to be determined by the government.
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