Russian Ministry of Defence — Anomalous Aerial Objects Directive

In September 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defence formally updated internal protocols for the Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) to require systematic reporting and documentation of encounters with anomalous aerial objects. The directive was reported by TASS and Interfax news agencies, citing official Russian Ministry of Defence sources. Senior Air and Space Forces officers acknowledged in official statements that VKS radar operators and pilots had been encountering objects whose flight characteristics could not be attributed to any known aircraft and that the previous informal reporting culture was being replaced with mandatory structured documentation. Russia's Space Forces tracking infrastructure — which monitors orbital and near-orbital objects — was also referenced as part of the updated reporting framework. The Russian directive followed the US Navy's 2019 reporting reform and Japan's JSDF 2020 protocols, reflecting a broader pattern among major military powers of institutionalizing UAP reporting in the context of the 2021 ODNI preliminary assessment. US intelligence officials noted the Russian directive publicly, citing it as a sign that the UAP phenomenon was being taken seriously at the military-institutional level across multiple state actors. The US State Department received reporting from the Moscow embassy on the directive's details.