Russian State Duma passes law binding to register drones weighing more than 250g

Russia’s State Duma lower parliament house on Tuesday passed a law on the establishment of a legal framework for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia.

In particular, the document binds to register all drones but for those weighing less than 250 grams. This liability will be applicable to toy helicopters and quadcopters, however a simplified registration procedures will be provided for such UAVs.

Registration of such light drones could be commissioned to a non-state structure or a public organization, Yevgeny Moskvichev, the chairman of the Duma committee on transport, told journalists. Nevertheless, in his words, registration is needed in any case, since even such toy drone "can be dangerous when used to commit a terrorist attack."

"Since so far we have no enforcement practice, we have set the lower weight limit at 250 grams. We will analyze how it works. If we see it is a too low limit we will raise it," he said, adding that drones weighing more than 250 grams "are subject to registration and certification" in a number of European countries and in the United States.