Overview
- Bank and central bank data show hundreds of billions of roubles left deposit accounts over June to August, with 286.4 billion roubles pulled in the first two weeks of August alone.
- Depositors cite fear that the Kremlin could freeze or seize private deposits to finance the Ukraine war, a worry sharpened by recent high‑profile asset confiscations of wealthy figures and companies.
- Ukraine’s stepped‑up drone strikes on energy and logistics targets, including repeated hits on Wildberries warehouses, have increased public nervousness and driven people to hold cash.
- The run for cash has strained bank liquidity, prompted the central bank to expand lending to lenders, and caused the Finance Ministry to cancel planned bond auctions for lack of demand.
- Officials publicly deny imminent deposit freezes, but bankers warn of deeper capital flight as firms and elites move funds abroad, a shift that could tighten state financing and worsen living conditions for ordinary Russians.