After Ukraine’s surprise drone assault on Russia, new attention drawn to sensitive sites stateside

After Ukraine launched a sudden drone assault on Russian installations, it brought new attention to the U.S.’ own vulnerabilities, regardless of which side the U.S. stood on Kyiv’s attack.

In recent years, Chinese Communist Party-linked entities have commercially targeted land around the U.S., including in the vicinity of sensitive installations like the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.

The Fufeng Group’s 300-acre farmland purchase in 2021 first raised the collective antennae of Congress to such under-the-radar transactions – and even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis swiftly banned them in his state as a result, among other efforts around the country.

On Tuesday, North Dakota’s senators agreed that the U.S. must remain vigilant for any malign activity, whether it be from relatively novel drone assaults to potential espionage through real estate transactions.

“When adversaries can buy our land, attend our universities, photograph silos in our prairies, perform aerial surveillance, park their ships near our military bases, or even just join our PTAs, they have more opportunities to be nefarious,” Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer told Fox News Digital.

“Our posture must always be vigilant, never assuming foreign actors are benign or have the best intentions,” he said. “Whether it’s directly spying, indirectly influencing, or sending drones to blow up aircraft, the ability of the enemy increases when we allow them easy access near our national interests.”

Cramer’s Flickertail State counterpart, Sen. John Hoeven, joined an effort to prevent such land-buys and has worked with federal partners to update the process in which foreign investment is analyzed for approval and decided upon.

“We need to remain vigilant against China and other adversaries,” said Hoeven, who is co-sponsoring South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds’ bill banning individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from purchasing farmland or commercial land near sensitive federal sites.

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