(MOSCOW) – Russian authorities have introduced a decree allowing the state to seize temporary control of critical infrastructure if owners fail to protect facilities from Ukrainian drone strikes.
The move, signed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Monday, permits authorities to place fuel and energy facilities, industrial sites, communications networks, utilities and transport infrastructure under temporary state management. Nuclear facilities and other installations deemed essential to Russia’s economic security are also covered by the measure.
The business daily Kommersant reported the decree under the headline “The Best Protection is State Administration”. Under the new rules, owners may lose temporary control of their businesses if they fail to protect facilities from drone threats, violate safety requirements, fail to restore operations on time or if their actions threaten the functioning of critical enterprises.
However, legal experts quoted by the newspaper noted that the decree does not specify what exactly constitutes grounds for implementation. A drone strike on a company does not automatically prove the owner violated safety rules. The text also fails to clarify whether a violation at one facility permits action against other facilities owned by the same company.
The decree follows continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and distribution centres belonging to major e-commerce companies. Shares in Ozon, Russia’s second largest online retailer, fell by 29.09 percent on the Moscow exchange on Monday after its warehouses were struck by drones, according to RBK business news.
Separately, Kommersant reported that Russians withdrew more cash from their accounts than they deposited in the second quarter of the year. The Bank of Russia attributed the increased demand for cash to interruptions in mobile internet services and public desire for reserves in case of problems with non-cash payments. Other factors cited include tax changes, seasonal expenses, reduced deposit attractiveness as bank rates decline and a general rise in uncertainty.
The government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported Kremlin reaction to Britain handing Kyiv blueprints for British made components for the Storm Shadow missile. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Britain was “participating in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime methodically and regularly adding oil to the fire”. Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half years ago.
Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote that after his trip to Kyiv, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would “quietly return to his life in London” and “won’t see Moscow in his dreams, but he should do in his nightmares”.
An opinion piece in Izvestia suggested that a Marine Le Pen presidency in France would be good news for Moscow, claiming she could move France “from a military track to a peaceful path of development, from confrontation to mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia”.
The daily Komsomolskaya Pravda featured jokes in its humour section, including one about a detective caught taking a bribe of 1.5 million rubles (£13,600; $17,250; €15,900) whose colleagues complained he was “lowering the market price”.
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