Ukraine war briefing: Shoot down drones yourself, Russia tells its banks
Central bank and commercial institutions would arm themselves under new law; anger at UN over Russian threats to embassies. What we know on day 1,554
The Russian government has told top banks including its federal reserve that they should shoot down Ukrainian drones themselves, as well as handling the costs. It comes as Moscow struggles to defend key sites on its vast territory against Ukrainian attacks that have forced Russia to cluster its air defence in some areas, including Moscow, leaving it spread extremely thin or nonexistent elsewhere. Kyiv’s forces have targeted infrastructure and equipment within Russia used to either carry out or fund the war – from ships, planes and airfields to oil refineries, depots and pipelines, natural gas networks and factories that make military electronics and explosives.
Reuters reports that the Russian parliament has passed a law allowing the banks including Russia’s biggest, Sberbank, and other financial institutions to operate defence systems and arm staff against drones without special forces involvement. They would handle the cost themselves, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma’s financial committee, was quoted as saying by the RBC news outlet. Alexander Shokhin, head of Russia’s most powerful business lobby, on Monday told Vladimir Putin that companies were prepared to buy heavier weapons and electronic systems to defend themselves against drone attacks.
Almost 50 countries at the United Nations have condemned what they said were “threats by Russia to diplomatic institutions and embassies in Kyiv”. “This is something which we cannot accept,” said a joint statement signed by European countries, Japan, South Korea and others. The EU also lashed out, saying it had no plans to move its staff. Germany and Norway summoned Russia’s ambassadors to deliver reprimands.
Russia announced on Monday that it had started a campaign of “systematic” strikes on Kyiv that would target the Ukrainian capital’s “decision-making centres” and urged foreign citizens and diplomats “to leave the city as soon as possible”, as well as for Kyiv residents to avoid public buildings. Ukraine has called the threats “blackmail” and encouraged its allies to ignore the warning, which they largely have.
The Czech Republic’s initiative to arrange large-calibre ammunition supplies to Ukraine has contracts to deliver around a million rounds in 2026, the Czech defence ministry has announced. Officials said it delivered about 1.5m rounds in 2024 and 1.8m last year. It came close to cancellation when the new Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, and his anti-Ukrainian partners entered government together in December 2024, but he kept the project running under pressure from foreign allies. The Czech president, Petr Pavel, is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and its defence against Russian aggression.
The ammunition initiative matches foreign donor countries, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and others, together with Czech arms traders seeking supplies from around the world. Funding has also come from the yield on frozen Russian assets provided by the European Commission. The ministry said financing of “nearly €1bn euros” had been secured so far this year. The amount this year may still rise if more donors deliver funding, the ministry added, or if Ukraine uses funds from the EU’s €90bn loan for Kyiv. Babis has rejected any further Czech financial contribution, which had been a small fraction of the overall amount but had symbolic value.
المصدر: The Guardian — World Europe News
