President Vladimir Putin told the Strong Ideas for a New Time forum in Moscow that Russia has fashioned “a unique development model” reliant on grassroots initiative rather than elite decision-making. He said the approach is helping cultivate new businesses and stimulate competition across the economy. Days later, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reinforced the message at the INNOPROM industrial exhibition in Yekaterinburg, declaring that “almost all” Russian industries are expanding despite Western sanctions. Mishustin said domestic drone production has already tripled initial targets and called the continued growth of the manufacturing sector “the best response” to restrictions imposed on Russia. The prime minister identified achieving sovereignty in aircraft manufacturing as a priority. He inspected a modernised Il-114-300 regional jet equipped with Russian systems and outlined delivery timelines for further domestically-sourced aircraft. Mishustin added that the share of Russian-made machine tools and instruments is rising, underscoring efforts to reduce reliance on imported industrial inputs.