Russians withdraw billions from banks - Fears grow that the Kremlin will seize war savings
Russians withdrew some 24.4 billion euros from the country's banking system in the first seven months of this year. Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and logistics infrastructure deepened the economic crisis and raised fears that the Kremlin could freeze or nationalize private deposits to finance the war in Ukraine.
Data from financial marketer Banks.ru shows that demand for cash began to rise in early March and has continued to grow, with about 300 billion rubles (3.05 billion euros) flowing out of accounts each month.
Five of Russia's seven largest banks have recorded net outflows of retail deposits. Gazprombank has been the hardest hit, losing 299.5 billion rubles (3.04 billion euros) - 10.8% of its total deposits - over the four months. Rosselkhozbank lost 270.5 billion rubles (2.75 billion euros), a drop of more than 15%.
The total amount of cash in circulation rose by 643.4 billion rubles (6.53 billion euros) in July alone, the largest monthly increase since the beginning of the year, according to the Bank of Russia. In the first half of August, another 300 billion rubles were withdrawn.
The withdrawal is being driven by two overlapping fears: that Ukrainian drone attacks could destabilize the financial system and that the Russian government could take steps to seize or freeze deposits to cover the rising costs of the war.
The second fear is based on recent events. Russian prosecutors transferred approximately $51.5 billion (44.3 billion euros) in private assets into state control last year, according to the Washington Post.
In June, authorities seized about $7.6 billion (€6.5 billion) in assets linked to billionaire Vadim Moshkovich, founder of the agricultural company Rusagro. Putin has also been extracting what officials describe as voluntary “donations” from oligarchs, with hundreds of billions of rubles pouring into the federal budget by mid-August. Russian banks have spent years providing government-directed loans to defense industries, on the Kremlin’s instructions.
Large companies are also moving money beyond the reach of domestic regulators, with more than $9.4 billion leaving Russia's banking system in the second quarter of 2026 alone.
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