MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow city authorities want to more than double their security budget for next year after overspending even more heavily this year amid Ukrainian drone attacks and an armed advance on the capital, Russia’s RBC media outlet reported on Friday.
The spending plan includes money for defence against drones – Moscow has built a dedicated airfield to launch drone interceptors from – as well as video surveillance, and militias to patrol the streets.
The 2024 security budget is set to rise to 106 billion roubles ($1.1 billion) from 49 billion in the previous version.
This year, Moscow is set to spend 193 billion roubles ($2.0 billion) on security, against an initial target of 51 billion.
Numerous drones – which Russia says were launched by Ukraine – have reached the Russian capital this year, although none caused serious damage and many were shot down by air defences en route.
In June, an armed convoy of Russian fighters from the Wagner mercenary group travelled more than 500 km (300 miles) towards Moscow as its late leader Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded the dismissal of the defence leadership.
The fighters turned back about 200 km short of the capital, leaving its residents wondering whether local police and other security forces would have been able to defend the city. ($1 = 96.0250 roubles)
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
