Russian companies increased spending on anti-drone defenses more than sixfold in the first half of 2026 as long-range Ukrainian strikes increasingly targeted the country’s industrial infrastructure, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday.
Businesses spent 441.3 million rubles ($5.34 million) on anti-drone equipment from January through June, 6.6 times more than a year earlier, according to data from procurement platform Tenderplan cited by Vedomosti.
Data from rival service Kontur.Zakupki also showed an increase, though on a smaller scale. Based on tenders listed on the platforms it aggregates, commercial-sector purchases rose 49% to 25.71 million rubles ($311,000).
The rise underscores the mounting cost to Russian businesses as Ukrainian drones strike ports, oil refineries, chemical and defense plants and warehouses belonging to online retailer Wildberries.
Purchases have accelerated in recent months, Vedomosti reported. Companies are buying protective barriers, communications and detection equipment, electronic warfare systems and unarmed interceptor drones, rather than weapons, the newspaper cited a source as saying.
Tenderplan and Kontur.Zakupki said businesses typically bought individual components rather than comprehensive defense systems.
Companies are also showing greater interest in mobile fire teams that can shoot down drones, Dmitry Datsykov, director of RuDrones Unmanned Technologies Group, told Vedomosti.
Some customers are still looking for a single “silver bullet” to solve the problem, Datsykov said.
But facilities need layered defenses because drones can strike the same location repeatedly with high precision, said Vladimir Kogan, CEO of the Gabion Structures Plant.
Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, asked President Vladimir Putin in late May to allow companies to buy large-caliber weapons to protect their facilities from drone attacks. Putin instructed the government to consider the proposal.
Authorities later approved a system allowing businesses to buy anti-aircraft guns, turrets and radar equipment, the RBC news website reported, citing sources linked to the Defense Ministry.
The weapons would be transferred to military units responsible for defending industrial and civilian infrastructure. They are expected to be operated by regional mobile fire teams made up of reservists, volunteers and private-sector employees.
This article was translated with the help of artificial intelligence and was reviewed by a Moscow Times editor before publication. Learn more about our newsroom's AI policy here.
Read this article in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service.
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