(KYIV, UKRAINE) – The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has reported a record structural liquidity deficit in the Russian banking system, reaching approximately 2.85 trillion roubles (about $35.6 billion or £28.1 billion), as Russians continue to withdraw cash at an accelerating rate.
According to Russian banks, the liquidity deficit now stands close to 3 trillion roubles (about $37.5 billion or £29.6 billion), a figure comparable to the total amount of cash added to circulation in Russia in 2026 alone. In the first ten days of September, Russians withdrew 150 billion roubles (about $1.87 billion or £1.48 billion), a pace that continues to accelerate.
The Central Bank has attributed previous seasonal liquidity pressures to long winter holidays in winter and tourism in summer, but has offered no comparable explanation for the current autumn deficit, traditionally a period when Russians return to work and deposit money in banks.
The withdrawals reflect growing public distrust in the rouble and the Russian economy, with citizens increasingly exchanging roubles for dollars, euros, and gold. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is currently the world’s largest seller of gold reserves, a development that analysts describe as a clear sign of weakness. Russians are also engaging in panic buying of goods, despite falling incomes, rising taxes, and growing inflation. Regional budgets are empty, with even formerly prosperous coal mining regions such as Kuzbas now among the poorest in Russia.
Russian economists, including German Gref, CEO of Sberbank, and Mikhail Zadornov, former Finance Minister who announced the 1998 default, have publicly warned about the situation, but their concerns appear to be ignored.
The banking crisis has direct connections to the failed “special military operation” and the absence of public trust. Ukraine’s ability to strike even the fastest oil producing regions of the Russian Federation, including the Yamalo-Nenets and Nenets districts, as well as the destruction of Wildberries infrastructure and constant attacks on Russian military production, continue to strain the Russian economy.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s continued spending on the war is accelerating the economic collapse faster than Ukraine’s own challenges. The Russian Federation’s GDP is smaller than that of Texas or Italy, despite being the largest country in the world by area.
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