Russia threatens to take over businesses that don’t defend themselves.
Defend Yourself Says Kremlin
On orders from the Kremlin, industries must take responsibility for protecting themselves.
The Wall Street Journal reports Overwhelmed by Ukraine’s Drones, Russia Tells Businesses to Defend Themselves
When a Ukrainian drone struck one of Russia’s biggest steel producers earlier this year, the company’s owner and the country’s richest businessman, Alexei Mordashov, brought in an air-defense system to protect the firm’s biggest mill on the outskirts of Moscow, people familiar with the matter said.
It isn’t all by choice.
Moscow has mandated that businesses take steps to protect themselves. The Kremlin warned in an official decree last month that any company that doesn’t take responsibility for its protection against Ukrainian drones could face temporary state seizure.
Now, businesses across Russia are leasing air-defense systems from defense firms or building their own, said people close to Russia’s business elite and defense sector. Job advertisements show that some are even hiring gunners to shoot down drones.
“The Kremlin is shifting more and more of the burden of protection to the shoulders of private business,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a senior analyst at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a think tank based in Berlin.
Ukraine has ramped up its drone production, enabling its military to carry out massive barrages deep inside Russian territory. Since March, Ukrainian drones have carried out some 200 strikes on Russian refineries and hit at least 36 logistics centers, including those of Russia’s biggest online retailers, Ozon and Wildberries, according to Rochan Consulting, a Poland-based firm that specializes in defense. Wildberries has started using steel netting around some of its warehouses to defend against drones.
Russia’s enormous size once helped it defend against the invading armies of Hitler and Napoleon. Now it is a vulnerability, spreading its available air defenses thin across a landmass that is difficult to defend in its entirety.
As a result, the Russian government is making defending against drones everyone’s problem—not just a matter for the military. Earlier this month, the government issued a decree allowing Russian postal workers to carry weapons and ammunition to take down drones, without specifying exactly what kinds of weapons they will be able to use.
In the first half of 2026, businesses spent more than 440 million rubles on counterdrone systems, nearly seven times as much as they did in the same period the previous year, according to state news agency Tass. The actual number is likely higher because businesses aren’t required to report expenditures on drone defenses.
Ukraine has suffered similar problems. The government helps private businesses insure against military risks up to nearly $700,000 in the most dangerous regions. Private owners of critical infrastructure can likewise request electronic warfare equipment as interceptors run out, though it is operated by the military, which integrates these systems into the country’s overall air-defense system.
When Will the War End?
- When both countries get tired of blowing each other up.
- Alternately, when Russia’s military has had enough of Putin and takes him out.
I thought number one would happen this year, but that now seems unlikely.
I have no way to assess number two, nor does anyone else.
But Putin survived all these years by being paranoid and by killing those even suspected of being against him.
September 25, 2026: Ukraine Hits Russia’s Perm Oil Refinery, Among the Largest in the Country
Russia’s Perm oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, is on fire this morning following a Ukrainian drone attack.
September 26, 2026: Trump Rejects Iran Ceasefire Proposal, Says More Bombing After Election
There’s a lot going on with this headline. Let’s discuss.
No one wants to end wars it seems.
Agree with the points about when the war will end. However the conditions for those depend on America stepping up to putting more pressure on Russia financially.
At the moment America is encouraging prolonging the war.
Arming civilians could make Pooty kapooty.
How about when one of those countries gets blown up a bit too much, can’t take it anymore and surrenders..?
That’s what ever more Russians hope for but unfortunately we don’t seem to be anywhere close to that.
Of course, the General Staff and the intelligence services would “take him out” (it would be a very “soft coup”) for the very opposite reasons that clueless Westerners like you imagine: they would do so to finally be free to conduct the war like it should have been from the start and unleash the full power of the Russian military: Ukraine would be “Gazaified”, the Ukrainian military and civilian leadership would get an Israeli-style ruthless decapitation and the Western countries supporting Ukraine would get a taste of the war they have been waging against Russia and would experience military and civilian losses themselves which would precipitate their societies into the chaos they already are on the verge of for many very different reasons.
Except those who actually know Russia and Russians and don’t rely only on Western propaganda (AKA Western MSM) like yourself, you mean?
LMAO. I will remind you your prediction (which you are not really repeating that often anymore): the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine will end with a negotiation that will leave everybody unhappy.
And mine: the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine will end with Ukraine’s capitulation, and by extension with the NATO’s and the West’s capitulation…
It’s also a good time to remind you of what I wrote here on the very first day of the Epstein Fury operation: this is going to be the USA’s FAFO moment.
Whose “predictions” are doing better at the moment..?
If you think that the Russians aren’t doing everything they can at the moment to defeat Ukraine, as well as to bomb its cities flat then you haven’t been paying attention. They are simply not nearly as strong as they thought they were, among other reasons because:
1) too competent generals cannot be tolerated, so get replaced quickly
2) their flow of information is so full of lies their generals give nonsensical orders
3) their corruption eats tons of resources
4) they stick to ineffective tactics that means they lose about 1500 soldiers a day
5) they cannot protect themselves againts Ukrainien drone attacks
6) they stick with an outdated authority model that prevens people in the field from making quick decisions
7) and much more
That doesn’t mean that Ukraine, at 1/10th of GDP can drive the Russians out. But it does mean that Ukraine has taken on the full might of the Russian army for 4.5 years and barely given an inch since the first invasion. Which is very impressive.
Russia is led by a poorly informed, paranoid and isolated leader that has no clue what is going on exactly in his country, and has no clue how to stop the war without losing power. Which is why the war will go on until Putin dies or is taken from power.
As in any dictatorship that will happen and it will happen sudden and unexpectedly. Could be this year, could be 10 years from now.
Regardless, Russia has taken such huge losses to its army, economy and freedoms, they will not recover fast from this, if at all.
My guess is that China is watching and very happy to see them decline, and become a client state to its rising power.
Walmarts with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers on the roofs? I likey. Maybe its time to re-evaluate the Russian political model.
“According to a Gallup Poll, 57% of young Americans aged 18 to 34 view socialism positively.”
Intrigued what part of Russian society is socialist. Seems uber capitalist to me.
You’re missing a little bit of context here. Look up “Decree No. 604” that was passed on Aug 24th in Russia. It allows the state to come in and manage companies which they view as critical infrastructure, if it believes that they are in danger and unable to defend themselves. This could be just another salvo in a limited form of nationalization. I’ve got relatives there, and they’ve been seeing a lot more activity to nationalize industries, and this smells like another step in that direction from Russians that I know living in Russia.
And to give further context: “nationalize industries” here means stripping the (mostly Jewish) oligharcs of the Russians’ properties they stole under the traitors and Western puppets Gorbachov and Yeltsin and RE-nationalize those industries.
And BTW, I don’t think that’s going to happen yet, not under Putin who is too much of a pro-West, Jew-lover, oligarchs-hostage, liberal cuck…