Russia Lets Central Bank and Sberbank Operate Anti-Drone Defenses
Russia’s parliament has passed new legislation granting the country’s central bank and several major financial institutions the authority to operate their own anti-drone defenses, CNBC reported Wednesday. The move signals how deeply the Ukraine conflict is now reshaping domestic policy inside Russia.
A New Mandate for Financial Institutions
The State Duma approved the Russia anti-drone law on Tuesday. It covers the Russian central bank, state-owned lender Sberbank, the Russian Cash Collection Association, and the country’s Special Postal Service. Staff at these institutions can now be armed. They may also operate drone-interdiction systems without needing special-forces support. Permissible countermeasures include jamming UAV signals, disrupting control systems, and physically destroying incoming drones. The institutions will bear the cost of equipping themselves. Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets and a co-author of the law, told RBC Radio that jamming would form the first line of defense. Shooting down drones would follow where necessary, he said.
Why Banks Are on the Front Line
Ukraine has shifted toward longer-range drone campaigns over the course of the war. That strategy has stretched Russia’s air-defense network across its enormous territory. Financial hubs, cash-handling networks, and government communications infrastructure have become realistic targets. Giving those sites independent defensive capability reduces dependence on centralized military assets. The law explicitly covers threats to facilities and to personnel located at those sites.
Background: An Escalating Air War
The conflict, which began in February 2022, has seen both sides strike infrastructure repeatedly, even as each denies deliberately targeting civilians. Drone and cyber attacks have become standard tools on both fronts. Against that backdrop, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week formally warned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Moscow planned sustained strikes on Ukrainian drone manufacturing and what Russia calls decision-making centers. Russia’s government said it advised Washington to move diplomats and American nationals out of Kyiv ahead of the anticipated campaign. Broader peace efforts remain stalled, with U.S. attention partly drawn toward its own military operation against Iran.
What Comes Next
The law transfers a slice of territorial air defense from the military to civilian institutions. Analysts will watch whether other sectors, such as energy or transport, receive similar powers. For Sberbank and the central bank, the financial burden of deploying and maintaining these systems now falls squarely on their own balance sheets.
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