Bloomberg: The Kremlin allowed large companies to independently finance the protection of their facilities from drone attacks

Russia has allowed large companies to independently finance the protection of their facilities from drone attacks amid increased strikes by Ukrainian drones on Russiaʼs industrial and energy infrastructure.

This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources.

According to sources, the Russian Defense Ministry will allow companies to purchase large-caliber air defense systems. At the same time, control over them will remain with the military — the systems will be operated by reservist units.

The list of equipment includes anti-aircraft artillery installations, radar stations, electronic warfare equipment, and special mountings for weapons.

As Bloomberg writes, air defense in Russia used to be fully provided by the state and was not a service that companies could pay for on their own. However, recently, Ukrainian drones have been increasingly attacking Russian targets.

According to the agency, drones attacked eight of Russiaʼs ten largest oil refineries last month alone, causing oil refining volumes to fall to their lowest level since October 2009 and increasing the risk of fuel shortages in the country.

Bloomberg sources also reported that some large industrial companies have already agreed with the Russian Ministry of Defense to deploy Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun systems near their enterprises.

• As of June 8, 30 companies have already joined the pilot project of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which involves business in the air defense system. They have shot down more than 20 Russian drones.

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