Moscow passes laws to boost defences against Ukrainian strikes
Russia has passed sweeping laws to bolster its defences at home against Ukrainian drone strikes and sabotage operations, reflecting the Kremlin’s expectation of a protracted war with Ukraine.Almost four years into Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine – a full-scale invasion he expected to last only weeks – Moscow is being targeted almost daily by Ukrainian drones striking energy facilities, while Ukrainian operatives have assassinated a number of high-profile Russian military figures deep inside the country.These deep-strike Ukrainian attacks have forced Moscow to confront vulnerabilities it once assumed lay far from the battlefield.Drone strike hits thermal plant in Oryol near Moscow To shore up the protection of critical infrastructure, the Russian president earlier this month quietly signed a decree authorising the deployment of reservists to guard key sites, including refineries hit repeatedly by Ukrainian drones and contributing to a rise in domestic fuel prices.The measure allows the Kremlin to call up a pool of about 2 million people, according to lawmakers, to guard energy facilities without declaring a fresh mobilisation – a step that has proved deeply unpopular. These reservists undergo annual military training and receive a modest monthly payment for remaining in the active reserve, but have so far been spared from fighting in Ukraine unless they volunteered.View image in fullscreenA damaged freight train at the site of a railway bridge collapse in the Kursk region. Photograph: Telegram/@Hinshtein/AFP/Getty ImagesRussian authorities had already deployed a dense network of air defence systems around Putin’s secluded Valdai residence, as well as around the elite Rublyovka neighbourhood where many of the political elites live. But it has struggled to adequately defend the hundreds of oil refineries dotted across the country,and other industrial plants tied to the war effort.Alongside reinforcing the physical protection of key sites, Russian authorities are introducing new regulations designed to electronically disrupt the flight of Ukrainian drones.Since 10 November, mobile users returning from abroad have found their connections automatically blocked for 24 hours. The so-called sim card “cooling-off period” is aimed at stopping drones from leveraging civilian mobile networks to transmit telemetry, video or control signals – a tactic Kyiv’s forces have deployed in past deep-strike operations.The restriction has caused confusion and chaos among Russians returning from abroad, while residents of the Pskov region on the border with Latvia and Estonia have also complained that their connection was mistakenly frozen under the new security rules.The changes reflect Russia’s mounting concern over Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside its territory with drones – a worry likely to grow as Kyiv prepares to deploy its own domestically produced long-range missiles.View image in fullscreenWorkers inspect a Flamingo cruise missile at Fire Point’s secret factory in Ukraine. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/APTaken together, the new laws also amount to a fresh layer of state interference in the daily lives of ordinary Russians, as the Kremlin tightens control and pushes for deeper mobilisation of its citizens.“Russia is acclimating its population to a prolonged semi-military existence and urging people to brace for greater sacrifices as the war drags on,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, an independent political expert based in Moscow.Despite Kremlin claims that it is open to talks on ending the war, Moscow has shown no willingness to scale back its far-reaching demands, and few analysts believe it is preparing to wind down the fighting. Russia’s deputy head of the security council and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, on Monday reiterated that the war would continue until Russia “reaches its goals”.This January, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine will outlast the duration of its fighting in the second world war, and Kolesnikov said the authorities were working to foster a mood in the country that would justify further sacrifices for the war.He pointed to a recent VTsIOM survey – the tightly state-controlled polling agency often used to manufacture consensus – which claimed that almost 70% of Russians were “ready to tighten their belts to defend their country” if required for its security. This messaging, he argued, was clearly intended to prepare society for a worsening economic outlook, with Russia’s economy beginning to stagnate under western sanctions.As well as demanding greater sacrifice from its citizens, the state is leaning on intimidation and psychological pressure to maintain control, Kolesnikov said.Moscow in recent weeks has moved to sharply increase penalties for sabotage inside Russia, introducing measures that range from lifelong, Stalin-era-style sentences to prosecuting children as young as 14.View image in fullscreenSmoke rises from oil storage facilities hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. Photograph: APLast week, Putin signed legislation imposing a life sentence on anyone who involves minors in acts of sabotage, while lowering the age of criminal responsibility for such offences from 18 to 14.Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has turned to clandestine guerrilla tactics – including sabotage, targeted assassinations and attempts to blow up ammunition depots, oil pipelines and railways deep inside Russia. While Ukrainian officials usually say little about attacks on Russian soil, they often drop hints suggesting responsibility.The Kremlin, meanwhile, has accused Kyiv of orchestrating and financing many of these operations, claiming they include paying Russian teenagers to carry them out. Russian courts have convicted at least 158 minors on terrorism– and sabotage-related charges since the beginning of the war.Kirill Kabanov, a member of the presidential human rights council, defended the possibility of jailing minors as “a necessary measure for the current moment, given that we are a country at war”.“It’s the reality we unfortunately have to accept,” he said.
