Organizers of the all-Russian gathering of combat drone operators, 'Dronnitsa-2026', postponed the event scheduled for August 29-30 in Veliky Novgorod indefinitely, according to a statement in the gathering's Telegram channel. The Coordination Center for Assistance to Novorossiya is the key organizer of the event.
The organizers claim that the 'analytical center of the Coordination Center for Assistance to Novorossiya' received 'precise and reliable information' about preparations for a strike on the gathering at the time of its holding. They said the alleged attack could be combined, involving 'new ballistic capabilities' and 'bio-drones-terrorists'.
After consultations with regional leadership, the military and security services, a decision was made to abandon holding the event on the scheduled dates, the organizers explained. They said that protecting participants would have required deploying large air defense and security forces, temporarily weakening protection of 'factories and bases' in the Novgorod and neighboring regions. 'Exposing factories and bases for the sake of our own safety is wrong now, and holding an event under such risks is too presumptuous,' the organizers said.
Political scientist Alexei Chadayev, the ideological inspiration behind the gathering, confirmed the postponement. He wrote that if the gathering had been held, the Armed Forces of Ukraine 'would not have been striking at Dronnitsa at all'. Chadayev is also general director of the Novgorod research and production center 'Ushkuynik', which tests and refines drone technologies, including the fiber-optic FPV drone 'Prince Vandal of Novgorod'.
'Dronnitsa' has been held since 2022 and is positioned by organizers as the main all-Russian event for combat drone operators, developers, manufacturers and electronic warfare specialists. The organizers urged participants to wait for new information and said re-registration for the gathering would be organized.