Russian businesses boosted drone defense purchases sevenfold
Demand among Russian commercial companies for drone defense equipment jumped 6.6-fold in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, reaching 441.3 million rubles, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported, citing analysts from Tenderplan, a tender-tracking platform.
In the first half of 2026, demand for drone defense equipment among Russian commercial businesses surged six and a half times compared to the same period in the previous year, reaching 441.3 million rubles, according to Vedomosti, citing Tenderplan analysts. The procurement volume in monetary terms grew by 49% to 25.71 million rubles, confirmed representatives of Kontur.Zakupok, a Russian procurement platform.
The increase in purchases of such systems was prompted by Vladimir Putin's directive to Russia's Presidential Administration and the government in late May, urging collaboration between businesses and the government on proposals to protect enterprises from drone attacks. However, the directive does not grant companies access to military-grade weapons.
Instead, they can only acquire non-lethal equipment like protective barriers, communications and detection gear, electronic warfare equipment, and interceptor drones without explosives. Ukraine has been launching drone strikes on logistics centers belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest marketplace, since mid-July, resulting in significant fires at several of the company's warehouses.
The direct losses from these attacks could surpass 100 billion rubles, as estimated by sources speaking to The Bell.
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