The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday approved a plan under which the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR), as well as Sberbank and their employees, could be involved in the defense against Ukrainian drone attacks.
- The State Duma approved a plan to involve Russian banks in air defense.
- Banks will finance the electronic interference of drones at objects from their own resources.
As reported by the AP agency, banking institutions should finance the installation of electronic drone interference systems in their facilities from their own resources. Incoming attack drones should be shot down by selected trained personnel.
New defense coverage
Given that Sberbank branches are located in almost every Russian city, their involvement in air defense could expand Russia’s protective coverage, the AP noted.
The draft law was submitted to the State Duma as early as August 2025. In the first reading, it proposed to extend the right to prevent drone operations to the CBR service for transporting cash. In an explanatory report, its authors stated that the adoption of the law was necessary to protect CBR facilities from drone attacks. By the second reading, the scope of the document had expanded significantly.
The approval process continues
After the document is approved by the State Duma, it must be approved by the Federation Council. It will then be sent to President Vladimir Putin for his signature, and if the head of state signs it, the law will enter into force.
Russia is having more and more problems protecting its vast territory from an increasing number of attacks by increasingly sophisticated long-range Ukrainian drones. According to Western analysts, the smaller machines also hinder the progress of Russian troops on the approximately 1,250 kilometer long front and disrupt the supply routes of the Russian army.
As the scope and intensity of Ukrainian attacks grow, Russian leadership is encouraging companies to play a part in protecting against them. AP reminds that during more than four years of war, Russian banks were not among the main targets of Ukrainian drones.
The proposal approved by the Duma contains few details, raising questions about its practical functioning. For now, it is clear that the provision of technology and its installation, as well as the training of employees on such a scale, would be organizationally demanding.
It follows from the draft law that bank employees will be able to completely disrupt or interrupt the control signals of drones and damage or destroy unmanned aerial, underwater or ground means threatening their facilities, even without waiting for the intervention of security forces.
Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, told the RBK news portal that the interference is intended to make it more difficult for drones to focus on targets and the attacks themselves.
Moreover, efforts to involve civilian institutions in defense could run counter to President Putin’s efforts to insulate ordinary Russians from the consequences of war.
