A sign that Russia is increasingly afraid of Ukraine: Moscow authorizes its central bank and other agencies to shoot down drones (and plans to arm its staff)

Russia wants to authorize the Central Bank, Sberbank and other strategic infrastructures to install anti-drone systems, jam communications and arm their employees in the face of increasing Ukrainian strikes, while kyiv already allows private companies to shoot down Russian drones themselves.

Russia is preparing to take a new step in the militarization of its civilian infrastructure. According to Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the financial markets committee of the Duma (the Russian National Assembly), a bill aimed at protecting the facilities of the Russian Central Bank against drone attacks will be adopted “as soon as possible”.

Guest of RBC Radio, the MP who is also one of the authors of the text detailed the planned measures. The infrastructures concerned will have to install anti-drone defense systems near their buildings.

“First, they will use jamming to make it more difficult for drones to target and attack, that is, they will remove all possible signals. In addition, they will use means to shoot down these drones,” he explained.

The device goes further than a simple electronic neutralization system. According to Anatoly Aksakov, weapons will also be distributed to employees responsible for protecting strategic sites such as the Special Courier Service (for transporting sensitive documents), the Bank of Russia, the Russian Fundraising Association and Sberbank, the country’s largest retail bank.

Banks will pay

A development which reflects the rise of Russian concerns in the face of long-range Ukrainian strikes which regularly target energy, military or financial infrastructures on Russian territory. The text, tabled in the Duma in August 2025, initially had a limited scope: it mainly aimed to expand the powers of the Central Bank’s security service to prevent drone operations near its installations. But on its second reading, its scope was considerably expanded. In mid-May, the competent parliamentary committee validated a strengthened version of the bill.

The Russian MP underlines that a specific text was necessary to allow certain civilian infrastructures to defend themselves.

“The Central Bank, Sberbank and other organizations did not have such rights,” he recalled, referring in particular to special communications infrastructure.

Another notable element is that the financing of this defense will rest directly with the companies and institutions concerned.

“If it is the Central Bank, then it will pay; if it is Sberbank, then it is Sberbank which will pay,” says the MP.

This development comes as Ukraine is increasing its innovations in the field of anti-drone warfare. kyiv now allows private companies to intercept Russian drones themselves. Some Ukrainian companies have developed their own detection and neutralization capabilities, with one claiming to have shot down a drone flying at more than 400 km/h.