Multimillion-Dollar Pantsir-S1 Missile Systems Guarding Police Department in Russian St. Petersburg, Guerrillas Say

The Atesh guerrilla movement has reported that Russian authorities have positioned several Pantsir-S1 air defense systems near the Russian Interior Ministry Department in St. Petersburg.

“Our agent conducted surveillance of the Russian Interior Ministry Department for the Primorsky District of the city and shared some intriguing information with us,” read a statement posted by the guerrillas on Telegram.

The guerrillas criticized the placement of these systems, particularly given the Ukrainian forces’ recent breakthroughs along the state border, where air defense systems are in short supply. They described the move as “very foolish.”

According to the guerrillas, Moscow and St. Petersburg remain the most heavily protected cities in Russia.

“To protect these cities, the Russian military command seems willing to sacrifice frontline cities. Meanwhile, residents of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod are left to fend for themselves,” the partisans added.

Atesh also published the coordinates of the Pantsir-S1 air defense system (60.008654, 30.241962).

The Pantsir missile system is a self-propelled surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system designed to protect military, industrial, and administrative installations from various airborne threats. It offers defense against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles, and UAVs, particularly at low altitudes.

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According to open sources, the unit cost of the Pantsir ranges from $13.15 million to $14.67 million on the export market.

Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned in an interview with Indian media: “We know where they have air defenses and where they don’t. Everything has been checked.”

He added, “There is air defense around Putin’s dachas, around Moscow, in St. Petersburg, but in ordinary towns, like in the Kursk region where we quickly advanced, there is nothing.”

In late June, the Atesh partisan movement revealed it had identified a Pantsir-S1 air defense system in Sochi tasked with guarding Putin’s dacha.

Reports have increasingly indicated that Russia is deploying this air defense system in both its cities and occupied Crimea in response to attacks by Ukrainian long-range drones.