Authorities in Russia’s Moscow region have begun publishing official maps of bomb shelters, reversing a long-standing policy of withholding the information, as fears grow that Ukraine could soon strike the capital with longer-range weapons.
On July 30, officials in the Lyubertsy district released an interactive map identifying hundreds of designated shelters across Lyubertsy, Dzerzhinsky, Oktyabrsky and surrounding towns. The registry includes apartment building basements, underground parking garages, post offices and other reinforced underground facilities intended to protect civilians during emergencies.
The neighboring Podolsk district published a similar map listing all active ‘temporary shelter points,’ complete with details on each site’s capacity and floor space. Residents were advised to bring only essential items, including identification documents, medication and a phone with a charger. Comparable shelter information had previously appeared on the website of the Odintsovo district administration.
The move reverses an earlier policy. Until now, Moscow region authorities had refused repeated public requests to disclose the locations of bomb shelters, telling residents that such information would only be released ‘during mobilization and wartime.’
The publication follows widespread criticism after Ukraine’s largest drone attack on Moscow in mid-June. Residents across the capital and surrounding region complained they received no warning before the attack. People in Ramenskoye, Kotelniki and Krasnogorsk said they learned of the threat only after seeing drones overhead or witnessing explosions and damage. Kotelniki officials defended the response, saying air raid alerts are ‘an exceptional rather than routine measure.’
The shelter maps also come as Ukraine appears to be edging closer to fielding its first domestically developed ballistic missiles. In an interview published on July 27, Fire Point owner and chief designer Denys Shtilerman said the company was in the final stage of testing a new missile system and that the first strikes on Moscow could come as early as this autumn if trials proceed as planned.
‘The military will decide where to strike, but I think these will immediately be significant targets,’ Shtilerman said. Fire Point is developing the FP-7 and the longer-range FP-9 ballistic missiles, the latter reportedly capable of striking targets up to 850 kilometers (528 miles) away. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in June that Ukraine was nearing completion of its own domestically produced ballistic missile capable of striking targets inside Russia.
For Moscow region residents, the publication of shelter maps signals an official acknowledgment of a threat that authorities had long played down. It also marks a practical shift: for the first time, civilians can locate the nearest reinforced facilities ahead of a possible attack.
The development reflects the widening impact of the war on the Russian home front, as Ukrainian drone and missile programs extend their reach and Russian authorities adjust public messaging on civil defense.