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Temporary control after drones
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the Russian state to take temporary control of critical infrastructure facilities if their owners fail to protect them from attacks by Ukrainian drones.
“would allow Moscow to strip owners of physical and financial control”
The decree, published on Monday, would let Moscow strip owners of physical and financial control over facilities and transfer ownership powers to Russia’s Federal Agency for State Property Management or another designated body.
The decree defines “critical infrastructure facilities” to include enterprises in the fuel and energy sector, the energy industry, manufacturing, communications, utility infrastructure, transport and logistics infrastructure, and “other facilities” important for Russia’s security and economic stability.
Reuters reported that the special powers would allow the state to take over temporary administration of such facilities if entities are judged to have failed in their duty to protect them and are too slow to repair them after any attack.
The decree’s grounds include “ineffective measures to protect against UAV attacks,” along with failure to restore facilities or delays in restoring operations after damage.
Putin’s framing and economic hit
In comments published on Saturday, Putin said Kyiv had opened “Pandora's box” with its strikes on Russian economic targets and warned that Russia would hit back at Ukraine's “most sensitive economic sectors.”
Putin also said the strikes “lead to casualties and cause economic damage,” while the Russian propagandist Pavel Zarubin interviewed him about long-range Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s fuel infrastructure.
The New Voice of Ukraine reported that Putin acknowledged the effects of long-range Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s fuel infrastructure and stressed the need to improve Russia’s air defense systems.
Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said on Aug. 20 that Ukrainian drone strikes had reduced Russia’s oil-refining capacity by 25–30% and lowered production of mineral fertilizers and chemical products.
Reuters said Putin last week ordered the government to launch a programme to rebuild commercial warehouses damaged or destroyed by Ukraine in recent weeks, as Ukraine’s drone attacks targeted oil refineries and retail warehouses.
Retailers, repairs, and fallout
The decree’s implementation is tied to ongoing attacks on Russian infrastructure, including logistics centers belonging to Wildberries and Ozon, which “have also repeatedly come under attack.”
“Ozon removed the addresses of 56 of its warehouses”
RBC-Ukraine reported that Ozon removed the addresses of 56 of its warehouses in Russia from a public directory at least 20 days before the first Ukrainian strikes on the company’s logistics centers.
Al Jazeera said Kyiv has struck at least two dozen warehouses belonging to Wildberries, destroying a significant share of its storage capacity, and that Ozon said on Monday that four of its logistics hubs in southern Russia had been hit.
Al Jazeera also reported that Russia was forced to halt operations at the Perm oil refinery, with repairs expected to take up to two weeks, adding to fuel shortages reported in several regions.
Global Banking & Finance Review | Western Alternative said Putin handed the Russian state authority to take control of physical and financial assets and formal ownership rights if responsible entities are judged to have failed to protect them and to be too slow to repair them after any attack.