According to a report by the Russian International News Agency on May 26, the Russian State Duma passed a law allowing employees of financial institutions such as the Russian Central Bank, the Russian Federal Savings Bank, and the Russian Cash Transportation Association to equip themselves with weapons and to shoot down drones that pose a threat without waiting for approval from relevant authorities.
This bill was submitted to the Russian Federation Parliament in August last year. It originally sought to expand the authority of the Russian Central Banks cash delivery department, allowing it to intercept and shoot down drones. In their explanatory notes, the proponents of the bill stated that this drone defense bill would help protect Russian banking facilities from drone attacks.
During the second reading stage, the scope of application of the bill was further expanded. The final version of the bill passed by the State Duma on the 26th stipulates that employees of the Russian Central Bank, the Russian Federal Savings Bank, and the Russian Cash Transportation Association have the right to intercept and destroy unmanned devices near protected facilities, including drones, unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned boats, and unmanned ground vehicles.
In case of an attack by drones, employees of these financial institutions do not need to wait for official responses from relevant departments. They can directly interfere with the drones or destroy them. According to the law, the Russian Central Bank can determine its own list of employees authorized to dispose of drones. However, the list of authorized employees for the Russian Federal Savings Bank must be approved by the Russian Federal Government.
May 27th, a branch of the Russian Central Bank in Sevastopol was attacked. Video screenshot
One of the initiators of the bill, Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Financial Markets Committee of the Russian State Duma, told the Russian Business Information newspaper that employees of relevant financial institutions will be equipped with weapons. UAV defense systems and jamming devices will be deployed near financial infrastructure facilities. He added that these financial institutions will bear the costs associated with defending against UAV attacks.
Aksakov revealed that the Russian Federal Savings Bank is the only private lending institution authorized to shoot down drones. This bank operates actively in eastern Ukraine and carries out special missions.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has frequently been targeted by Ukrainian drones. Russian financial institutions have also become one of the main targets of Ukrainian attacks. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the mayor of Sevastopol, stated that early on the 27th local time, the branch of the Russian Central Bank in Sevastopol was attacked by Ukrainian drones and missiles.
To cope with the attacks, Russian large companies are also seeking to purchase anti-UAV equipment on their own. A Russian businessman told the British Financial Times: We paid for all kinds of equipment ourselves. Moscow didnt give us anything at all.
In August last year, Alexander Shoukhin, the head of Russias most influential business lobby group, proposed that the Russian government should bear 50% of the costs associated with anti-UAV measures. However, his proposal was not supported. On May 26th, Shoukhin met with Russian President Putin and stated that Russian companies were ready to pay for weapons and electronic equipment in order to protect their facilities from attacks by Ukrainian drones.
