Drone deference. Multiple factories in Kirov fined for failing to enlist workers to guard against Ukrainian drones

On June 2, magistrate court No. 61 in Kirov fined the Lepse Electric Machine-Building Plant 50,000 rubles, or $655, under a protocol charging it with failure to comply with a decision of the regional operational headquarters. The text of the since-deleted appellate ruling was spotted by Verstka.

In late December 2025, the Kirov operational headquarters placed the plant on a list of strategic facilities “presenting the highest level of danger” due to the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks, meaning the site is subject to “protection and defence” by employees drawn from the “mobilisation reserve”.

Lepse’s management was unable to find such workers in time: its recruitment drive proved “fruitless”, the plant's defence explained in court, though the required quota was later filled.

Mediazona found that at least two other Kirov enterprises have been fined on the same charge: the Selmash and Mayak plants. Selmash was fined 100,000 rubles and Mayak 50,000; on appeal, Selmash’s fine was halved.

In court, Selmash’s lawyers insisted that the regional operational headquarters has no authority to set staffing quotas, and that the enterprise itself must not coerce employees into joining the reserve due to constitutionally guaranteed freedom of labour. By the time the appeal was heard, however, the plant had managed to fill its quota of ten people, which is what earned it the reduction.

Mayak’s representatives, like Lepse’s defence, argued that the plant had done everything it could to recruit reservists but failed to fill the quota within the one-month deadline.

The demands on factory managers come as Ukrainian drones strike ever deeper into Russian territory. Repeated attacks on oil refineries have set off a nationwide fuel crisis, and in early July, drones reached the Omsk refinery, the farthest target from the front line they have managed to hit.