(KYIV) – Russians withdrew a record 107 billion rubles (approximately $1.16 billion / £920 million) from banks last month, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The figure is the highest since autumn 2022, the month the Kremlin announced its general conscription, prompting hundreds of thousands of men to flee the country.
The surge in withdrawals follows the recent parliamentary elections, in which the party of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin secured a constitutional majority, signalling a continuation of the war and likely further mobilisation.
The Russian federal budget deficit has reached almost 8 trillion rubles (approximately $86.7 billion / £68.8 billion). Regional budgets are also under severe strain, with more than 56 federal subjects unable to finance state jobs. Once-profitable industries such as construction and coal mining are collapsing. In the Kuzbass region, miners have reportedly gone unpaid.
State profits have fallen by 1.6 trillion rubles (approximately $17.3 billion / £13.8 billion), a loss driven largely by a decline in oil and gas revenues. The report credits Ukrainian drone operators for the drop, noting the funds Russia has lost could have been used to destroy Ukrainian kindergartens, schools, supermarkets, and trains. The sharp reduction in revenue limits the Kremlin’s ability to sustain its war effort.
In a further sign of instability, a Russian combat helicopter violated Polish airspace for 42 seconds over the Kaliningrad region. The incursion is seen as a deliberate test of NATO.
An analyst from Ukraine Anna Danylchuk noted that Russians are not protesting the economic decline or the war, despite their frustration. She argued the population lacks the civic courage to challenge the Kremlin, a situation she described as a difficult problem requiring the dissolution of what she called the monstrous skeleton of the USSR that Putin seeks to recreate.
The analyst said the collapse of the Russian Federation and Putin’s regime was triggered in February 2022 and that Russians are aware of it. She predicted the Kremlin will continue to seize money from its population, whom she described as accomplices through their silence.
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