A Russian missile ship was covered with nets to protect it from drones
The Russian Baltic Fleet’s Project 21631 “Buyan-M” small missile ship Orekhovo-Zuyevo was spotted with makeshift drone protection. Nets were stretched across the ship’s deck to cover certain structural elements.
The presence of such protection is evidenced by a photo taken in Baltiysk by observer Petri Mäkelä.
The published image shows that nets have been stretched around key elements of the ship’s superstructure, likely to protect against attacks by unmanned boats or FPV drones, which can attack at low altitudes or while approaching a target.
The appearance of such protection on a Baltic Fleet ship indicates that the practice of improvised anti-drone protection for Russian military facilities is spreading far beyond the Black Sea.
The Russians had previously begun installing similar protective structures on other naval platforms. In particular, the appearance of anti-drone nets on Russian Project 21980 “Grachonok” anti-sabotage boats was noted earlier.
The Russian military also uses similar solutions to protect stationary facilities, including oil depots, and more recently, even strategic submarines.
The small missile ship “Orekhovo-Zuevo” is part of Project 21631 “Buyan-M,” which was designed as a carrier for cruise missiles of the “Kalibr” family.
Ships of this type have a displacement of about 950 tons and are designed for operations in coastal waters, although Russia has also used them to launch missiles at targets in Ukraine.
Improvised protective structures have become a typical response by the Russian military to the development of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, though their actual effectiveness against maneuverable drones remains debatable.
The expansion of such defenses to the Baltic Fleet may indicate that the Russian command now views the threat of drone attacks as more than just a problem in the Black Sea theater.
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Zelenskyy reported heavy civilian casualties from Russian attacks over the past week
On May 16, Russian occupation forces carried out massive shelling of the Kherson region, resulting in one death and 15 civilians sustaining injuries of varying severity.
On the night of May 17, Ukrainian air defense forces shot down and neutralized 279 enemy drones out of 287 launched by Russian military units.
A 25-year-old woman was injured as a result of an enemy drone strike on a gas station in the Zaporizhzhia district.
