Rosneft Advertises Anti-Aircraft Gun Crews to Defend Samara Refinery from Ukrainian Drones
The state oil company advertised positions for anti-aircraft gun and armoured vehicle crews at its Kuibyshev refinery, as Russian businesses pour millions into defending against Ukrainian drone strikes.
State oil giant Rosneft has advertised jobs for anti-aircraft gun and armoured vehicle crews to defend a refinery in the southern city of Samara against Ukrainian drones, the exiled news outlet Vyorstka reported on Friday. The listings on Russian recruitment website HeadHunter sought personnel to operate Soviet-era anti-aircraft guns and infantry fighting vehicles at the address of Rosneft's Kuibyshev refinery, the outlet reported.
The Kuibyshev refinery, on the Volga River, has been repeatedly targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Applicants' duties included intercepting aerial targets and keeping armoured vehicles stationed at the refinery ready for combat, Vyorstka reported. The advertised monthly compensation totalled 249,000 rubles ($2,938), including salary, regional governor bonuses and military reserve pay. Applicants were also offered hostel accommodation, three meals a day and mandatory health and life insurance.
The listings were removed and archived shortly after publication, with HeadHunter indicating that the employer was no longer accepting applications, Vyorstka said.
Russia's top business lobby told President Vladimir Putin in May that recruiting reservists to guard major companies was difficult because they were regularly rotated to other facilities. Russian businesses spent more than 441 million rubles ($5.3 million) on anti-drone protection in the first half of 2026, a more than sixfold increase compared to the previous year.
In August, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the state to place strategically important facilities under temporary administration if their operators were deemed to have failed to protect them adequately from Ukrainian attacks or repair damage quickly. The measure covers industrial, communications, transport and logistics facilities considered important to national security and economic stability. Putin later said the decree had "nothing to do with any plans for nationalization" of private property.