Russia has passed a law allowing its central bank and other financial institutions to use their own defense systems and arm personnel to fend off drone attacks, Reuters reports.
Ukraine on Wednesday attacked the central bank's headquarters in Russian-occupied Sevastopol in Crimea with a missile, regional governor Mikhail Rozzhozaev said, claiming it was a British Storm Shadow missile. He added that the building was on fire.
Ukraine has been regularly attacking Russia with drones since Moscow invaded in February 2022. Energy infrastructure is often targeted as Kiev seeks to deprive Moscow of revenues.
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The Russian central bank is expected to fend off drone attacks
Russia has passed a law authorizing the central bank and other financial institutions to fend off drone attacks using their own defense systems.
The bill, passed by Russia's lower house of parliament on Tuesday, will allow employees of Russia's central bank to arm themselves and operate systems used to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles without the involvement of special forces.
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Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, the Russian Cash Collection Association – the country's largest cash carrier – and the Special Postal Service, which delivers secret and top secret state correspondence, are among the other institutions that have been allowed to oversee their own air defense operations, the RBC news agency reported on Tuesday.
Employees will have “the powers to prevent the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles and other automated unmanned systems,” RBC reported, citing a law passed by the State Duma.
Ukrainian drones in Russia
The attack on the Sevastopol headquarters was the first attack on a major central bank headquarters since the beginning of the war. No attacks on Sberbank's main offices were reported.
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On Tuesday, Alexander Shokhin, head of Russia's most powerful business lobby, informed President Vladimir Putin that companies are ready to finance the purchase of heavier weapons and electronic systems to defend their infrastructure against drone attacks, writes Reuters.
Source: Reuters, CNBC
