(MOSCOW) – Russian households dumped nearly 55 billion roubles (approximately $692 million / £543 million) into foreign currencies in June 2026 alone, according to data released by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, signalling a profound collapse of confidence in the nation’s currency and economic future.
The June figure of 54.9 billion roubles nearly matched the panic levels seen in early 2022, when the full scale invasion of Ukraine began. Combined with April’s 51 billion roubles and May’s 52 billion roubles, ordinary Russians exchanged a total of 158.9 billion roubles (roughly $2 billion / £1.57 billion) into dollars, euros and other foreign currencies during the second quarter.
Analysts suggest the rush to dump the rouble is accelerating its devaluation, directly undermining efforts by the Central Bank to preserve its value through high interest rates. The currency flight also accompanies a separate but equally damaging trend: in the first half of 2026, depositors withdrew 2 trillion roubles (approximately $25.2 billion / £19.7 billion) from the Russian banking system.
The capital flight places extraordinary stress on financial institutions already grappling with collapsing industrial giants and mounting bad loans, including major banks exposed to failing enterprises. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s full scale war against Ukraine has now lasted over four and a half years despite initial Kremlin claims it would be a brief operation, leaving the domestic economy increasingly isolated and unstable.
Further evidence of the internal crisis came as the Central Bank released successively bleaker forecasts. The publicly available data, financial observers note, likely understates the true scale of distress, as official figures historically lag behind reality on the ground.
Source: Central Bank of the Russian Federation data, cited by Anna from Ukraine YouTube channel.
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