(MOSCOW) – A proposal by a senior Russian parliamentarian to confiscate citizen bank deposits has sparked widespread alarm, as the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine places catastrophic strain on the Russian Federation’s financial system.
Gennadiy Ziuganov, head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, has proposed the forced withdrawal of 30 trillion roubles from private savings accounts. The scheme, he claimed, is necessary to rescue a collapsing federal budget hollowed out by the cost of the war.
The suggestion triggered immediate panic among ordinary Russians, who have been actively withdrawing their money from banks since early 2026. A significant acceleration in this flight of capital has been recorded since late 2025. Russian banking officials have repeatedly implored citizens to cease the withdrawals, warning that the trend threatens to destabilise the entire banking system in the context of a failing military campaign.
The dictatorship of Vladimir Putin has not yet endorsed the deposit seizure proposal. However, according to a Bloomberg report citing analysis from European intelligence services, the Central Bank of Russia has begun effectively printing money. Approximately 5 trillion roubles have been injected into the banking system via government loans.
The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, has reappeared at public events after a prolonged absence of more than a month. Analysts suggest the veteran technocrat, widely viewed as a competent economist, was likely pressured by Putin to authorise the monetary expansion after resisting the move. The cash injection is projected to accelerate an inflation rate that is already two to three times higher than official Russian media figures.
The internal financial chaos is unfolding as armed conflict expands across Russian territory. Ukrainian counterstrikes, which focus exclusively on neutralising legitimate military infrastructure, have brought air raid sirens and explosions to Moscow, St Petersburg, Chelyabinsk and scores of other large cities. The new reality of war on home soil is eroding support for the regime. A growing number of Russians now reportedly rely on Ukrainian Telegram channels to obtain accurate information about events in their own regions, bypassing state media that fail to comment on the situation.
The budget shortfall facing Moscow currently exceeds 6 trillion roubles. Authorities have recently stopped publishing data on the budget deficit. In a further sign of fiscal desperation, the government has prepared or already enacted legislation that allows the national debt to be increased without any legal limits.
Ordinary Russians, who once supported the so-called special military operation, are bearing the cost of the resulting inflation and stagnation. With the dictator having ruled for more than 26 years, the combination of lost deposits, soaring prices and war arriving on the home front is forcing a reckoning across the country.