The Russian State Duma has passed an unprecedented law allowing the country’s central bank and major financial institutions to deploy their own military-grade defence systems and arm internal staff to shoot down incoming Ukrainian drones.
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| Members of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) stand outside the headquarters of the Russian Central Bank on the day of a key rate-setting meeting in Moscow, Russia, 21 April, 2026. (The Guardian UK) |
The new legislation, revealed in a parliament document on May 26, 2026, permits these entities to neutralise aerial, surface, and underwater unmanned threats without relying on Russian special forces. The mandate applies directly to the Central Bank of Russia, the nation’s largest commercial lender Sberbank, and the Russian Cash Collection Association.
The decentralised strategy highlights the mounting pressure on the Kremlin's domestic air defences, which have been stretched thin across Russia's vast territory by Ukraine's persistent, long-range strikes on critical infrastructure. Under the new law, financial institutions are expected to independently finance the procurement and operation of their electronic jamming and interception hardware.
"The institutions would handle the cost of drone defence themselves," stated Anatoly Aksakov, head of the financial market committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, during an interview with the Russian news outlet RBC.
The legal shift arrives amidst escalating cross-border hostility. Moscow recently announced a campaign of systematic strikes targeting Ukrainian military manufacturing and drone facilities, warning foreign diplomats to evacuate Kyiv immediately.