Putin Gives the Kremlin Power to Take over Businesses Hit by Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has authorized the Russian state to assume “temporary management” of critical infrastructure when the government decides its owners failed to protect it from Ukrainian drones—or did not repair it quickly enough afterward.

The decree covers energy facilities, factories, communications, transportation, logistics centers, utilities and even nuclear infrastructure. The state can take control of physical property, company shares, securities and other property rights.

This is not automatic confiscation, but the distinction may offer owners little comfort. There is no fixed deadline for returning their assets. Control ends only when the Russian government acts on Putin’s instructions, while income produced by the business is used to finance its state-appointed management.

The decree does not guarantee that an owner will be compensated if a facility is destroyed. In practice, a Ukrainian strike could now leave a Russian company facing two losses: physical destruction from the attack and indefinite loss of control to the Kremlin.

It is also an extraordinary admission of how deeply Ukraine’s long-range campaign is affecting Russia. Putin cannot reliably defend every refinery, power plant and logistics hub, so he is threatening their owners when Russian air defenses fail.

That leaves Russian businesses with an unenviable assignment: succeed where Russia’s famously unreliable air defenses cannot. Those systems have been known to miss Ukrainian drones while sending debris—or occasionally their own interceptors—into Russian buildings. If Ukraine hits your facility, Putin may take it. If Russian air defense hits it instead, it will probably still be your fault.