Russia is arming its postal workers with anti-drone kit after relentless Ukrainian strikes on parcel depots caused over £7bn in damage and sparked mail room chaos
Russian posties are being issued anti-drone weapons as Ukrainian strikes spark chaos across the country. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed off on a government decree adding heavy-duty tech to the arsenal of federal postal workers.
Officials have authorised gear including “special technical means of countering unmanned aerial, underwater and surface vessels and vehicles, autonomous land vehicles and other automated unmanned systems.” It marks a major upgrade for Russian mail carriers, who were already permitted to carry 9mm pistols, stun guns and wear body armour while transporting cash under a 2005 law.
The drastic step comes after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces ramped up a deep-strike campaign targeting e-commerce parcel depots belonging to giants Wildberries and Ozon.
The devastating hits have rocked hundreds of thousands of online sellers, causing more than £7billion in infrastructure and stock damage.
Commercial firms have panicked, with spending on anti-drone gear surging sixfold to 441.3 million roubles (£3.8m) in the first half of the year alone.
Russian bosses were also granted permission to buy heavy-duty hardware including anti-aircraft artillery, gun turrets, radar and electronic warfare jammer kit.
Strict new laws signed by Vladimir Putin mean the Kremlin can seize control of private transport, energy and logistics firms if they fail to properly protect themselves against Ukrainian kamikaze drones.
Putin insisted the sweeping rules were not linked to “plans for nationalisation” of private property.
The move comes after months of brutal Russian strikes pounding Ukrainian postal depots, retail warehouses and transport hubs.
More than 80 civilian posties and logistics workers have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict erupted in 2022.
Last week, Putin’s troops blew up a Nova Poshta parcel hub in Dnipro, just weeks after a jet-powered drone slammed into an Odesa mail centre inside a shopping complex, injuring seven.
Despite the chaos, Ukraine’s resilient state mail firm Ukrposhta claims it still completes 98 per cent of deliveries on time.
The new equipment for Russian posties comes after Ukrainian kamikaze drones battered a major oil terminal in Novorossiysk overnight, leaving four dead and 29 injured, with Russian air defences claiming to have intercepted nearly 600 incoming drones.