Putin’s New Decree Makes Russian Businesses Pay for Failing to Stop Ukrainian Drones

Wildberries, Russia’s largest online marketplace, has spent weeks watching its warehouses burn. Just last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised government help to rebuild warehouse infrastructure damaged in Ukrainian attacks.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Now the Kremlin has added another response: if the state decides an owner failed to adequately protect a facility from Ukrainian drones – or took too long to rebuild it – the government can take control of the owner’s assets. Signed on Aug. 24, Decree No. 604 allows temporary state management if a business fails to take security measures, uses anti-drone defenses deemed ineffective, or fails to restore a damaged critical facility quickly enough. Kremlin puts responsibility on owners Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made that clear Tuesday. “We are facing an obvious threat of drone attacks on critical infrastructure facilities,” Peskov said, adding that business owners “often do not pay enough attention” to anti-drone security. Given the threat to vital infrastructure, he said, Russia “must take measures” to ensure its security. But the decree turns that logic on its head: when a refinery, warehouse or factory is hit, the owner can be penalized for failing to prevent it – even though the Kremlin launched the war and Russia’s air-defense system is responsible for defending the country. Loopholes for abuse On paper, the measure gives companies a strong incentive to spend more on protection and rapid repairs. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Strikes Deep Inside Russia Despite Starlink Limits Ukrainian FP-2 drones are striking Russian air defenses and military targets far from the coast, raising questions over how they maintain connectivity without Starlink. But it does not define what level of anti-drone protection is sufficient or how quickly a damaged facility must be restored. That leaves the Kremlin broad discretion to decide when a company has failed. Not just the damaged facility The decree goes beyond the refinery, warehouse or plant that was hit. Temporary management can cover all or part of an owner’s movable and immovable property in Russia, along with securities, stakes in Russian companies and other property rights. Rosimushchestvo, Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency, will normally act as temporary manager, though the government can appoint another person or entity on Putin’s instructions. The temporary manager receives broad powers over the assets, although it cannot formally sell them. There is also no fixed time limit. Temporary management ends only when the government decides to terminate it on Putin’s instructions. Manturov: ‘This is not about nationalization’ First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov moved quickly to reassure Russian businesses. “I want to stress that this is not about nationalization or a change in the form of ownership,” Manturov said. He said the decree simply allows the state to enter company management “to address specific security tasks.” The measure does not envisage “mass application,” Manturov said, adding that “targeted and carefully calibrated decisions will be made at the highest level.” But the decree does not define what constitutes mass use or set a clear threshold for determining whether an owner has done enough. A Soviet echo The measure also carries a familiar Soviet legacy. The USSR subordinated strategic industry to state control and largely eliminated private ownership of major enterprises. Putin’s decree stops short of formal nationalization, but follows a similar principle: ownership may remain on paper while effective control shifts to the state in the name of security and wartime necessity. From refineries to marketplaces The decree’s definition of critical infrastructure is broad. It covers fuel and energy facilities, factories, communications networks, utilities, transport and logistics infrastructure, power generation and other sites considered important to Russia’s security and economy. That puts far more than oil refineries within reach. Warehouses, logistics hubs, power stations, transport facilities and communications infrastructure can all potentially fall under the new rules. Not nationalization – formally Russia has used a similar temporary-management mechanism before. Putin’s 2023 Decree No. 302 allowed the state to take control of assets linked to investors from countries Moscow calls “unfriendly.” It was later applied to major Western-controlled companies, including Danone’s Russian operations and Carlsberg’s Baltika brewery. Formally, Putin’s new decree does not transfer ownership. But it does transfer control. The state can decide that a business failed to defend itself, take over management of its assets and decide when that arrangement ends. For Russian companies already absorbing the cost of Ukrainian deep strikes, surviving the attack may no longer be enough. They may also have to convince the Kremlin they did enough to stop it. The new wartime reality The timing is no coincidence. As Ukrainian deep strikes bring the war into Russia’s economic heartland, Moscow is struggling to protect every refinery, warehouse and logistics hub. Moscow may not be able to stop every Ukrainian drone. But it can still decide who pays for the damage – and who keeps control afterward. Sevinj Osmanqizi is an experienced journalist who writes extensively for Kyiv Post on foreign policy, international security and geopolitics. Based in Washington, D.C., her work focuses on Ukraine, Russia’s war and the broader post-Soviet space.