Radio Liberty journalist Mark Krotov continued his investigation of the towers for the installation of the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system.
In this case, he discovered not the location of the new towers, but the person responsible for their design and manufacture.
This person turned out to be Alexei Dobshin, a contractor for many projects of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, a confidant of Putin and a member of United Russia.
The towers are manufactured by Dobshin's "Crust" company; The patent found by Krutov states that they are cheap, easy to install and production can be scaled up quickly.
Krotov and OSINT researcher Jambov discovered at least 200 air defense towers that matched the appearance of the drawings found in the patent.
One of the first towers installed, however, is located close to the factory for their production.
Crosst is not the only company that produces air defense towers: there are also smaller manufacturers that offer different designs.
Krotov points out that Dobshin and his companies are located as civilians, and therefore were not subject to sanctions from Western countries.
It is interesting to note that previous studies by Krutov and Dzhambov mentioned that the Russians are erecting towers in close proximity to places where ZRPKs were previously installed on battery ramps.
It has been suggested that the Russians see the towers as more effective than the batteries, and are therefore modernizing these positions.
However, in light of the fact that the main manufacturer of the towers is a close associate of Putin, the question arises: is the replacement of the ramps in the towers dictated by military necessity or is it a plan to transfer the defense order to "their people".