Russians Are Withdrawing Money From The Country En Masse

Ukrainian intelligence has uncovered some interesting details.

Russians have begun actively moving their savings abroad and buying up foreign currency amid sanctions and expectations of new restrictions from the Kremlin.

This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

Russians have sharply increased money transfers to foreign brokerage accounts in an attempt to move some of their capital out of the country before it becomes more difficult to do so. According to intelligence data, from December 2024 to June 2026, Russian households transferred nearly 600 billion rubles to non-resident brokers.

This amount exceeds the total volume of similar transfers over the previous seven years combined.

The transfers increased particularly sharply in the spring of 2026. From April through June, Russians transferred approximately 42–45 billion rubles to foreign brokers each month, equivalent to more than $500 million.

According to the SZRU’s estimates, approximately 40% of these funds represent actual capital outflows from Russia. Three-quarters of this amount is attributable to so-called “parking” arrangements, in which a brokerage account is effectively used in place of a foreign currency bank account.

Another quarter of the transfers is related to preparations for a possible move abroad.

Russians Are Buying Up Foreign Currency Again

At the same time, the Russian population has resumed actively purchasing foreign currency in cash.

In June, Russians’ net foreign currency purchases totaled 54.9 billion rubles. In May, the figure reached 52.2 billion rubles, and in April—51.8 billion rubles.

Thus, in just three months, Russians purchased nearly 159 billion rubles worth of foreign currency in cash. According to intelligence reports, this is a record figure since the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the same time, Russian citizens have begun withdrawing money from their bank accounts more actively. From January through July, approximately 2 trillion rubles flowed out of Russia’s banking system in cash. In July alone, the public withdrew about 620 billion rubles.

What Russians Fear

The State Duma’s Committee on Financial Markets attributes this behavior to sanctions and Western banks’ increasingly strict stance toward Russian funds.

An additional factor was the EU’s decision late last year to include Russia on the list of high-risk countries in the area of anti-money laundering.

At the same time, Russians fear a possible tightening of domestic restrictions following the State Duma elections. Among the possible scenarios cited are the imposition of martial law or a new mobilization.

For now, Russian banks continue to receive cash in dollars and euros via third countries, despite sanctions on direct shipments of U.S. and European currencies.

However, the situation could change if the U.S. Congress adopts new, stringent sanctions against Russia. In that case, one of the channels for supplying cash currency could be cut off.

This could lead to a shortage of foreign currency in the Russian market, after which the Central Bank of the Russian Federation would have to restrict its sale. If similar restrictions are imposed by the European Union, problems may also arise with the availability of the euro.

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