The law, approved by the State Duma, authorises employees at Russia’s central bank to use systems designed to repel unmanned aerial vehicle attacks without relying on special forces.

Other organisations covered by the legislation include Sberbank, the Russian Cash Collection Association and the Special Postal Service, which handles classified state correspondence.

According to Russian reports, employees will be “empowered to prevent the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, underwater and surface vessels and apparatus, unmanned vehicles, and other automated unmanned systems”.

The measures permit institutions to defend protected sites and personnel by jamming signals, interfering with drone controls or destroying the devices.

Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drone attacks against targets deep inside Russian territory, stretching Moscow’s defensive capabilities during the war, which began in February 2022.