For whom the siren is silent

There is no air threat in Krasnodar - only unmanned

The morning of March 12 in Anapa began with a message from the mayor of the city, Svetlana Maslova. The mayor announced the cancellation of classes in schools, higher and secondary educational institutions. Maslova asked parents not to let their children leave the house. “It is very important that children stay at home and not walk the streets until the danger signal is lifted,” noted the mayor of Anapa. Only duty groups will work in kindergartens in the resort city. Maslova recommended leaving preschoolers at home. This is due to the danger of drones.

The unmanned danger is now almost constantly present in Anapa, Krasnodar, Sochi, Tuapse, Novorossiysk, and other cities and regions of the Krasnodar Territory.

The day before, Krasnodar Mayor Evgeny Naumov reported a drone found in the courtyard of an apartment building in the Kubansky District. There were no casualties.

Governor Veniamin Kondratyev had to tell the residents of Kuban much more tragic news. “On the afternoon of March 12, as a result of a drone attack, an agricultural enterprise in the industrial zone of the village of Novominskaya, Kanevsky district, was damaged. Unfortunately, one death is already known,” the head of the region wrote on his channel, expressing condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

As a result of the drone attack, two more employees of the agricultural enterprise were injured. Administrative buildings and agricultural tanks were damaged.

At night, as a result of falling drone debris, as reported by the channel of the Operational Headquarters of the Krasnodar Territory, a fire occurred on the territory of an oil depot in the Tikhoretsky region. The fire area is 3.8 thousand square meters. 257 people, 69 pieces of equipment and one fire train were deployed to extinguish it.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported repelling an attack by aircraft-type drones on the night of March 12 at the Russkaya compressor station in the village of Gai-Kodzor, Krasnodar Territory. This station supplies gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline. The agency reported the destruction of ten aircraft-type attack UAVs in the airspace above the compressor station.

Krasnodar residents note with alarm that in recent weeks the number of drones attacking Kuban has increased significantly. The Ministry of Defense reports daily the destruction of 30-50 drones over the region.

Having learned from the media about a drone found in the courtyard of a high-rise building, Krasnodar resident Leonid concludes pessimistically: “It’s probably a reconnaissance drone.” And he worries that something will happen later, “like in Bryansk.”

Periodic shutdowns of the Krasnodar airport due to the threat of unmanned aircraft are perceived as commonplace by everyone, except those unfortunate people who managed to buy tickets to fly out of this air harbor.

Passengers whose flights are canceled due to the unmanned threat constantly record videos in which they are outraged by what is happening and complain about the inconvenience and about the ground services of Pashkovsky Airport, which do not provide them with information or do not return their luggage.

Krasnodar airport ceased operations on February 24, 2022. The operation of the air harbor was resumed in September 2025 exclusively during daylight hours.

Against the backdrop of the constant unmanned threat, mobile communications are being limited in the Krasnodar Territory. It is impossible to get through by mobile phone.

In case of unmanned danger, sirens howl almost every day in Anapa and Novorossiysk, but in Krasnodar they are not heard. The city administration explains the absence of sirens by saying that they are required to be turned on only when a civil defense signal is received. As Pavel Ivanov, head of the city civil protection department, said, this is allegedly due to the requirements of the order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Digital Development. According to the document, authorities are required to launch the “Attention All” sirens only after receiving one of four civil defense signals: “Air Raid,” “Air Raid Clear,” “Chemical Hazard,” or “Radiation Hazard.” The drone danger signal is not one of them.

The official said that during the entire period of the SVO on the territory of Krasnodar, no civil defense signals were received. However, citizens do not believe the explanations of officials about the reason for the silence of the warning sirens. In Krasnodar, there is an opinion that sirens are not turned on, since this is supposedly disadvantageous for developers - danger signals can scare away potential buyers of apartments who come from other regions, unless these people come from the Belgorod, Kursk or Bryansk regions. The capital of Kuban occupies a leading position in the country in housing construction.

Alexander Romanov