Drones in Russia Help Crack Down on Unauthorized Construction
In Russia’s Novosibirsk Region, drones surveyed more than 11,000 hectares of land in a year, identifying signs of land-use violations on around 2,000 sites.
Inspectors from Russia’s land registry agency, Rosreestr, are using drones to survey territory in the Novosibirsk Region. In 2025 alone, more than 11,000 hectares were examined as part of efforts to detect violations of land-use regulations.
According to the agency, inspectors were able to examine 3,300 land plots without interacting directly with their owners. The most common violations involved unauthorized construction. Officials issued more than 2,000 warnings and recommendations outlining how the violations could be remedied.
At the Legislative Level
Aerial images and terrain maps collected by drones allow authorities to accurately determine how land plots are being used and whether their boundaries are respected, helping bring greater order to land-use regulation.
Unmanned technologies are also being used by Russia’s agricultural watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor. In the first half of 2025, the agency monitored more than 124,000 hectares. Drones identified areas overgrown with weeds, sites containing unauthorized landfills, and zones where illegal extraction activities were taking place.
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles for land-use monitoring was formally approved at the legislative level in Russia in 2025.
