Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 17, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 17, 2026
A top Russian security official, Sergei Shoigu, warned that Ukraine’s accelerating drone production and advanced deployment methods make no part of Russia safe, citing a 40% increase in sabotage incidents in 2025 (1,830 in total). Russia claimed to have downed 250 drones over Moscow and 421 across R
MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) - A senior Russian security official warned on Tuesday that the pace and development of Ukrainian drone production meant that no Russian region was safe from attack.
Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council and a former Russian defence minister, told a meeting of officials in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg that the number of Ukrainian sabotage attacks against Russia had increased by 40% in 2025 to 1,830 incidents.
"...the pace of development of weapons systems, primarily unmanned drone systems, and the sophistication of the methods used to deploy them are such that no region of Russia can feel safe," Shoigu was quoted by the TASS state news agency as saying.
The mayor of Moscow said on Monday that air defence systems had foiled the biggest attempted attack on the Russian capital in at least a year, downing 250 Ukrainian drones over the weekend. The Russian Defence Ministry reported on Tuesday that 421 Ukrainian drones had been shot down in the last 24 hours.
Russia has bombarded Ukrainian targets with artillery, drones and air strikes, while Ukraine has struck deep inside Russia with sabotage groups and drones, killing Russian generals and attacking oil refineries and oil pipelines.
In separate comments at the same meeting on Tuesday, Shoigu said a network of intelligence agencies from 56 countries was operating against Russia to facilitate what he called "sabotage and terrorist" attacks. He did not name the intelligence agencies.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Sergei Shoigu stated that the advancement of Ukrainian drone production means no Russian region is safe from potential attacks.
There were 1,830 reported sabotage attacks by Ukraine in 2025, a 40% increase from previous figures.
The Russian Defence Ministry reported 421 Ukrainian drones shot down in the last 24 hours.
Moscow's mayor said air defence systems foiled the largest attempted drone attack in a year, downing 250 drones.
Shoigu claimed that intelligence agencies from 56 countries are operating against Russia to support sabotage and terrorist attacks.
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