The kremlin Preparing to Rob russians Again

russians entered 2026 with a record 67 trillion rubles in bank accounts – by 16%, or 9.5 trillion rubles, more than a year earlier, according to data from the central bank of the rf. The average deposit in the country is 419,000 rubles, in moscow – 1.8 million rubles. The figures look impressive. The reality is much bleaker.

These savings are not a sign of prosperity, but a symptom of a decaying economy. The money has settled in accounts thanks to deposit rates of up to 25% per annum, the artificial strengthening of the ruble by 45%, and the collapse of consumer sentiment: people are simply afraid to spend because they do not believe in tomorrow. Another 17 trillion rubles are held by the population in cash – a telling fact for a country where everything is officially “stable”.

Together, this amounts to 84 trillion rubles, or two annual federal budgets of the rf. The kremlin is already openly talking about the risks of this mass entering the market. The topic is being actively discussed in the specialized media, and the very fact of such discussion eloquently testifies that the authorities are not in control of the situation.

Meanwhile, banks have been methodically cutting rates since the summer of 2024, from 25% to the current 13-14%, with a drop to 10% predicted by the end of the year. russians are forced to look for alternatives that do not actually exist. Real estate is inaccessible: 95% of depositors have less than 1.4 million rubles in their accounts, which is not enough for even a minimum down payment. There is also no commodity market in russia capable of absorbing trillions in savings.

The analogy is obvious – and devastating. In the late 1980s, the ussr found itself in an identical trap: the state was unable to “redeem” the population’s money, inflation was accelerating, store shelves were emptying, and savings were turning into paper. The outcome is well known.

If we consider the current kremlin as the heir to the soviet and yeltsin traditions of crisis management – and there is no reason to interpret it otherwise – then “concern about the money supply” means only one thing for the average russian: the state is already looking for a way to take away the real value of this money, replacing it with more slogans. The experience of the late 1990s confirms that such stabilization measures invariably ended in the impoverishment of those who had been saving for years.

According to available information, the deposits of ordinary russian depositors have already become a financial reserve for the main banks of the rf, which are in fact on the verge of crisis due to a lack of capital. At the same time, these funds are actively used to buy back government debt securities, as well as to lend to state-owned corporations and military-industrial complex enterprises. In order to somehow cover up the lack of deposits in bank accounts and protect itself, the kremlin is preparing to introduce restrictions on the withdrawal of deposits.