Russia expands bank staff powers to counter drone threats

Russia's State Duma has passed a bill that would allow selected bank employees to help defend facilities against drones and other unmanned vehicles. The measure applies to banks and related sites, and it comes as Russian authorities face a growing number of drone attacks linked to the war against Ukraine. The law still needs approval from the upper house and the signature of President Vladimir Putin before it can take effect.

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Under the bill adopted on Tuesday, banks would pay for electronic warfare equipment at their facilities. Selected staff would be allowed to jam or intercept drone control signals and to destroy unmanned aerial, underwater and ground vehicles that threaten their sites. The draft was first introduced in August 2024 and originally covered only the Bank of Russia and the state cash-collection agency Rosinkas.

The final version now extends the framework to Sberbank and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Main Centre for Special Communications. The change is notable because it gives civilians powers that have normally been reserved for military and law-enforcement bodies. Until now, comparable authority has been held by organisations such as Rosgvardiya, Russia's National Guard.

The bill also suggests that the burden of protecting sensitive infrastructure is being pushed further onto the financial sector, which would have to install and maintain the new equipment. That makes the measure both a security step and a sign of strain in Russia's existing drone-defence system. The wider context is the intensifying drone campaign against Russian territory.

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By early 2026, Ukrainian drones were reported to be carrying out around four separate strikes per night against targets inside Russia, roughly double the pace seen in late 2025. Swarms of 100 to 200 aircraft have also been reported crossing into Russian airspace, and strikes have reached areas as far away as the Caspian Sea and western Siberia. In that setting, the new bill appears designed to speed up local responses when security services cannot arrive quickly enough.

The measure also highlights the role of major state-linked institutions in Russia's wartime security posture. Sberbank is Russia's largest bank and the state holds a controlling stake in it, while the Bank of Russia and Rosinkas were already included in the earlier draft. The addition of the Main Centre for Special Communications broadens the scope beyond ordinary commercial banking and into institutions tied to state communications and cash handling.

That suggests the authorities are trying to protect both financial operations and strategically important infrastructure. What remains unclear is how quickly the upper house will act and how the new powers would be implemented in practice. It is also not yet clear how many employees would be selected, what training they would receive, or how the rules would be enforced across different facilities.

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