Russians have pulled roughly €24.4 billion from the country's banking system in the first seven months of this year, according to data from the financial marketplace Banks.ru. The withdrawals, which began in early March, have accelerated as Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and logistics infrastructure deepen the economic crisis and fuel fears that the Kremlin could freeze or nationalise private deposits to fund its war in Ukraine.
Around 300 billion roubles (€3.05 billion) have been leaving accounts every month, with five of Russia's seven largest banks recording net outflows of individual deposits. Gazprombank has been hit hardest, losing 299.5 billion roubles (€3.04 billion) — 10.8% of its total deposits — over four months. Rosselkhozbank shed 270.5 billion roubles (€2.75 billion), a fall of more than 15%. Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest private lender, lost 179.4 billion roubles (€1.82 billion), while Sovcombank and VTB saw outflows of 81.7 billion and 20.4 billion roubles respectively.
Sberbank, initially resilient, saw 211.6 billion roubles (€2.15 billion) leave in June and a further 31.8 billion roubles (€323 million) in July. T-Bank was the exception, recording an increase of 193 billion roubles (€1.96 billion). The total amount of cash in circulation rose by 643.4 billion roubles (€6.53 billion) in July alone — the largest monthly increase since the start of the year — and another 300 billion roubles were withdrawn in the first half of August, according to the Bank of Russia.
Why Russians are pulling their money
The rush is driven by two overlapping fears: that Ukrainian drone strikes could destabilise the financial system, and that the Russian government might seize or freeze deposits to cover mounting war costs. The second concern is grounded in recent events. Russian prosecutors transferred approximately $51.5 billion (€44.3 billion) in private assets to state control last year, according to the Washington Post. In June, authorities seized around $7.6 billion (€6.5 billion) in assets linked to billionaire Vadim Moshkovich, founder of the agricultural holding company Rusagro.
President Vladimir Putin has simultaneously been extracting what officials describe as voluntary "donations" from oligarchs, with hundreds of billions of roubles flowing into the federal budget by mid-August, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported. Russian banks have also spent years extending government-directed loans to defence industries at the Kremlin's instruction.
Large companies are moving money beyond the reach of domestic regulators, with more than $9.4 billion flowing out of Russia's banking system in the second quarter of 2026 alone, according to central bank data. This mirrors the pattern seen in 2022, when Russians pulled funds following the invasion and the initial wave of Western sanctions. The central bank then temporarily raised interest rates to 20% and imposed capital controls to stabilise the system. Those controls were later lifted and the rush subsided, but the current trend is larger and longer in scale.
Russia's broader economic position is deteriorating. GDP expanded just 0.3% in the first half of 2026, compared with 1.2% in the same period last year, according to the Kremlin's own data, which cannot be independently verified. Andrei Klepach, chief economist at the state development corporation VEB, was dismissed over the weekend after publicly questioning whether Russia could win a prolonged war.
The situation has implications beyond Russia's borders. As European leaders consider tougher sanctions this autumn, the internal financial strain could influence Moscow's calculations. Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict continues to exact a heavy toll, as seen in recent strikes on Kharkiv and other Ukrainian regions. The Kremlin's ability to sustain its war effort may increasingly depend on its willingness to seize private assets, a move that could further erode public trust and accelerate capital flight.
