A senior executive at Sberbank, Russia's largest retail bank, warned that withdrawals for all of 2026 could approach twice the amount withdrawn during that first year of the war.
Russians are pulling billions of dollars out of banks at a pace not seen since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, as drone attacks, mounting economic strains and fears that the Kremlin could eventually tap private deposits to finance the war shake confidence in the country's financial system. Nearly $3.4 billion, or 286.4 billion rubles, were withdrawn during the first two weeks of August, according to Russian Central Bank data cited by The Washington Post. That followed withdrawals of $7.3 billion in July and more than $4.5 billion in June.
The exodus has already pushed withdrawals this year above the roughly $24.7 billion during the first year after the February 2022 invasion. Taras Skvortsov, a senior executive at Sberbank, Russia's largest retail bank, warned that withdrawals for all of 2026 could approach twice the amount taken out during that first year of war. This time, however, the pressure is unfolding against a very different economic backdrop. Russian banks have spent years extending government-directed loans to defense industries, while high interest rates, bad debts and a slowing civilian economy have increased strains on the financial sector.
"Drones are flying. Things are burning down. Nervousness is growing," a former senior Russian finance official told The Post, describing a return to the instinct of keeping cash "under their pillow" rather than trusting banks. The exodus has already pushed withdrawals this year above the roughly $24.7 billion during the first year after the February 2022 invasion. Taras Skvortsov, a senior executive at Sberbank, Russia's largest retail bank, warned that withdrawals for all of 2026 could approach twice the amount taken out during that first year of war. This time, however, the pressure is unfolding against a very different economic backdrop. Russian banks have spent years extending government-directed loans to defense industries, while high interest rates, bad debts and a slowing civilian economy have increased strains on the financial sector. "Drones are flying. Things are burning down. Nervousness is growing," a former senior Russian finance official told The Post, describing a return to the instinct of keeping cash "under their pillow" rather than trusting banks.
Alexandra Prokopenko, a former adviser to Russia's Central Bank, said the withdrawals point to declining confidence that money held inside the banking system will remain untouched, which is potentially more damaging than a temporary demand for cash. "This is all a consequence of the fear that the government will do something with the banking system, that it could nationalize deposits," Prokopenko told The Post. While she considers outright nationalization unlikely, she said restrictions on withdrawals could not be ruled out. (Read More)
