Thread by @kromark

🧵/ link in the last post. Have you ever wanted to know where the infamous Russian 'Rubicon' drone center is based – and who commands it? Thanks to my colleagues @pustota, @legal0ve, and open sources (including Russian Tsar-Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov), we now know.

First of all, 'Rubicon' is not technically a military unit; it isn’t associated with any, has no publicly known registered entity, and its head’s name has never been disclosed.

Luckily, I found two letters of gratitude that 'Rubicon' sent to the Bratskoye Serdtse ('Brotherly Heart') charity, which is run by former members of the FSB and SVR. In them, you can see the surname and initials of Rubicon’s commander – S.V. Budnikov. фонд-братское-сердце.рф/upload/iblock/…

In February 2025, Russian propagandist star Vladimir Solovyov published a 'documentary' about the 'Rubikon,' in which he visits its 'training center.' It was aired on Russian state TV. vk.com/video-22514303…

He is accompanied by Russian Deputy MoD Sergey Krivoruchko, senior MoD official Evgeny Shmyrin, and an unknown man (though Shmyrin is also not named). All other faces in the video are blurred.

Shmyrin is the head of the Russian MoD Directorate for Advanced Inter-Service Research and Special Projects – a branch of the ministry responsible for developing 'weapons of future'.

A guy from Shmyrin’s department was among the senior Russian missile specialists who visited Iran in April and September 2024. reuters.com/world/europe/r…

Shmyrin himself visited Iran in October 2023, attending a meeting with the then Iranian Minister of Defence, Mohammad-Reza Qarai Ashtiani. tasnimnews.com/fa/media/1402/…

We’ll get back to Shmyrin later, remember this name! His presence in the video means a lot.

Finally, with the help of @pustota, we found a family photo of the 4th guy in the video, an 'unknown man', on 'VKontakte'; and yes, he appeared to be Sergey Viktorovitch Budnikov, head of the 'Rubicon' center.

Budnikov is 37 years old. Most of his service was with the 9th Guards Artillery Brigade (at least from 2011 to 2019). That’s probably where he got his 'Guards Colonel' rank from the abovementioned ‘letter of gratitude’.

In 2019, Budnikov was the Chief of Staff of the 9th Brigade at their headquarters in Luga, Leningrad Oblast. In 2015, this brigade was spotted near Mariupol, heavily shelling the city. informnapalm.org/en/self-propel…

Before that, Budnikov also served in the 61st Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, and his wife even had an email password 'морскаяпехота.' ('navalinfantry'). Later, they moved back from Leningrad Oblast to Belgorod, where both were born.

Budnikov is also listed in the Ukrainian 'Myrotvorets' database, with at least 19 illegal crossings from Russia into occupied Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine in 2023, but of course there's nothing about his connection to 'Rubicon' there. myrotvorets.center/criminal/budny…

But what about the location of the top-secret 'Rubicon' base? Let’s ask Vladimir Solovyov for help again.

His crew’s sloppy blurring clearly reveals the venue: a hangar in the 'Patriot Congress Center' in the 'Patriot' military park and museum near Moscow. , 36.834604 yandex.com/maps/-/CLakFUL…

More matching details, like columns with speakers and other technical equipment:

We also geolocated the nearby hangar where Solovyov, Krivoruchko, Shmyrin, and Budnikov walk to inspect the vehicles used by 'Rubicon' to get their crews to the front line 55.564868, 36.825582.

This may be one of the reasons why the 'Army-2025' exhibition, which usually takes place in all 4 exhibition halls of the 'Patriot' Center, was cancelled this year.

https://x.com/kromark/status/1954990889430028426

During the search, we went through hundreds of photos of different venues in Russia, until @legal0ve suggested that the empty 'Patriot' could be the home of 'Rubicon,' since it had allegedly stood unoccupied for most of this year. The rest was a technical matter.

We also learned which exact hall in this building 'Rubicon' occupies (the southernmost 'D' hall + part of the 'C' hall). You can see from this image, taken in April 2024, that sometimes exhibitions in the 'Patriot' Center run right next to 'Rubicon.'

So, It wasn’t a one-time show-off for TV. A video by 'Rubicon' itself, published six months later, on the 1st of August, and its recruiting ads also featured other clips filmed in the same hangar (but not featured in Solovyov's video). t.me/icpbtrubicon/3…

We even learned when 'Rubicon' settled in the 'Patriot' center. There’s a calendar on the 'Patriot' website with all activities listed for 2024, 2023, and earlier. Since September 2023, there has been a permanent, daily entry called ‘Scientific and Practical Classes of UPMIiSP.'

UPMIiSP is the MoD Directorate for Advanced Inter-Service Research and Special Projects, headed by the aforementioned Evgeny Shmyrin, who also appears in Solovyov’s video. So we can fairly confidently say that 'Rubicon' has been based at the ‘Patriot’ Center since September 2024.

The October 2024 video of Defense Minister Belousov’s visit to 'Rubicon' features the same metal hatches seen in Solovyov’s video (though this video may have been shot elsewhere, to be honest) t.me/mod_russia/443…

The 'Patriot' exhibition center, where 'Rubicon' was present since September 2024, was attacked in May by a Ukrainian 'Lyutiy' drone.

https://x.com/TuiteroMartin/status/1925583225797161018

Three days after this attack, the Russians started constructing a 'Pantsir' tower right on the premises of the 'Patriot' park.

https://x.com/kromark/status/1964788093111902407

'Rubicon' is claimed (by Ukrainian soldiers and experts) to be an extremely efficient 'drone ambulance,' designed to quickly achieve a limited goal, primarily by disrupting Ukrainian logistics in very specific areas.

'Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war; and this lesson saves their children, their homes, and their properties.' Aristophanes, 'Birds'.

Where does this success come from, and what can Ukraine learn from it? As for the thread, I’ll stop here and leave the floor to the experts. Read their assessment and the full story about 'Rubicon' here (Google Translate for your language please): smarturl.click/vd02Q

More interesting details from our investigation into the 'Rubicon' UAV Center in this thread by my colleague @legal0ve

https://x.com/legal0ve/status/1968240646604595411

@legal0ve Here's the English version of our investigation about the secret Russian 'Rubicon' UAV Center, edited and adapted for your best reading experience by @Mike_Eckel rferl.org/a/russia-drone…