Russia installed a metal mesh system covering dozens of high-rise buildings in Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, as a protective measure against Kiev’s raids.
More than 40 apartment buildings in the town of Shebekino, Belgorod region, have been installed with metal protective nets to protect against Ukrainian UAVs.
At the end of 2024, the Governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced on Telegram that the installation of the grid at Shebekino will begin this year.
Initially, Mr. Gladkov stated that materials for the project had been purchased for 50 buildings and that installation would begin after receiving the goods in mid-January. However, on January 17, he said that about 60 buildings in Shebekino would be protected with special nets, with the first 640 rolls of material having been delivered.
“This is a large-scale project, but I can say that it is still experimental because we have never done this before. The situation is tense, so we are trying to find new solutions to protect people and their property,” Mr. Gladkov added.
The sites for installing the nets were selected based on a joint analysis between regional and local authorities, with the participation of law enforcement agencies and the Russian Ministry of Defense.
By the end of January, reports showed that 16 high-rise buildings and two social housing projects had been covered with anti-UAV nets. The project manager, Denis Kokol, revealed that the goal was to cover the entire perimeter of 60 buildings.
“It takes about a week to cover a building with netting under favorable conditions,” said Mr. Kokol.
Russian media said the nets had been tested at a training ground and were capable of entangling UAVs, preventing them from colliding with buildings.
These nets were previously used on agricultural machinery. According to Governor Gladkov’s instructions, from the spring of 2024, anti-UAV nets will begin to be installed on tractors and harvesters in the border area.
On March 21, Russian news agency BelPressa reported that 41 buildings in Shebekino had been covered with anti-UAV nets.
“It takes us about five to six days to complete a building. It depends on the length, number of floors and number of entrances of the building,” said a worker named Andrey.
Another worker, Alexander, added that residents were grateful for the nets. “UAVs can fly in at any time. There are no sirens, no missile warnings. But with the nets, they get stuck and can’t fly into the apartment,” he said.
A local resident named Tatyana, who lives in a building covered with nets, told BelPressa: “We feel safer with this net. These buzzing UAVs can even fly into the windows, which is scary. But with the nets, we feel more secure. We don’t have to constantly look out the window anymore!”
According to Kyiv Post, when images of the Russian net-covered building appeared on the Internet, many Ukrainians expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of this measure, saying it would be difficult to effectively prevent UAVs.
However, some believe that Ukraine will soon adopt similar protections and wonder why Kiev has not done so yet.
“They will soon cover an entire city in nets, while we are still talking and doing nothing,” said one netizen.
“We used to laugh at dragon-tooth fences, then iron cages on tanks, then fiber-optic-controlled UAVs. Do we still find it funny now?”, one person wrote.
In early February, Ukrainian electronics expert Serhii Beskrestnov posted a video on Telegram showing that the Russian military had built a 2km-long “tunnel” made of mesh near Chasov Yar, in the Donetsk region, to protect its equipment from UAV attacks.
As planned, the attack UAV would not be able to detect the net due to poor video quality, leading to it getting stuck. Even if the UAV operator detected the net, they would not be able to get close enough to hit the target.
Ukrainian servicemen also stated that the use of nets is necessary to protect both equipment and soldiers from UAVs.
“The effectiveness of these nets is very high. That is why they are becoming so necessary,” said Mykhailo Ardashyn, a soldier in the Independent Artillery Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.
