Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced plans to modernize anti-missile defense systems in Moscow on Wednesday following a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory.
Several air defense systems have appeared on rooftops around Moscow this year amid fears that Ukraine, supplied with advanced weaponry from its Western allies, could be capable of targeting Russia’s capital.
“This year we will complete the modernization of the anti-missile defense systems in Moscow,” Shoigu told army officials.
He said that developing defensive weapons was “one of the priorities” for the army.
Shoigu added that the army would also form an “air defense division brigade that will be trained and equipped with new generation S-350 air-to-surface missile systems.”
He did not mention if these were new plans or if they were related to the war in Ukraine.
Drone attacks on Russian territory and on Moscow-annexed Crimea have increased in recent months, more than a year into the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, authorities in Crimea claimed the Russian navy “repelled” a drone attack in the port of Sevastopol.