The Kremlin has allowed private companies to purchase anti-aircraft guns to defend against drones

The Russian government has approved a mechanism allowing private companies to officially purchase large-caliber weapons to protect their own industrial and infrastructure facilities from drone attacks. This involves the procurement of anti-aircraft artillery systems, turrets, radar equipment, specialized vehicles, and electronic warfare (EW) systems. 

This was reported by RBC, citing sources linked to the aggressor country’s Ministry of Defense.

The relevant decisions at the state level were recently adopted to promptly provide all necessary equipment to the mobile fire groups currently being formed to protect enterprises. The issue of expanding the permitted arsenal was raised by Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin. He noted that standard 7.62mm assault rifles are insufficient for large enterprises to effectively counter aerial threats, so businesses require laser systems, electronic warfare systems, and larger-caliber weapons.

Shokhin also requested that permanent units of reservists—who are currently frequently rotated between different positions—be assigned to specific facilities. According to journalists, in most regions of the European part of the Russian Federation, the active formation of new mobile fire groups is already underway, involving reservists, volunteers from regional “BARS” units, and direct employees of private companies.

On the night of May 27, drones attacked Tuapse in the Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation. According to preliminary information, a local oil refinery—one of the key energy facilities in southern Russia—may have been targeted. Details regarding the consequences of the attack are being clarified.

On the night of May 21, fighters from the Special Operations Forces (SSO) and Unmanned Systems Forces (SBF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine delivered a precision strike on the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region of the Russian Federation. 

In Russia, drones attacked the Syzran Oil Refinery in the Samara region

In Russia, following the drone attack, fires broke out at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, and on the grounds of the Azot chemical plant in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Krai.

On the night of May 20, a series of explosions rocked the Stavropol Krai of Russia, followed by reports of damage to the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant. The plant is one of the largest producers of ammonia and ammonium nitrate in the Russian Federation. Information regarding the extent of the damage and the consequences of the attack is being clarified.