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Russia is selling off gold: reserves have fallen to the lowest level since the beginning of the full-scale war. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. During 2026, the gold reserves of the Russian Federation showed a decrease of about 15 tons, which resulted in the volume of assets falling to 2311 tons in early March against 2326 tons recorded in January.
This figure is the lowest since March 2022, indicating the systemic exhaustion of one of the most important financial safeguards of the state. It is noteworthy that in November 2025, the central bank of the Russian Federation for the first time departed from its long-term strategy of exclusive accumulation of the metal and began selling gold to domestic market players. Since then, sales operations have not stopped, and their volumes have only shown an upward trend.
The method used by the aggressor clearly illustrates the power of international sanctions pressure. Russia’s central bank exchanges gold bullion for Chinese yuan, while commercial financial institutions, which are subject to less stringent restrictions, bring the metal to foreign markets for sale, keeping the proceeds to maintain domestic liquidity. In February, the total amount of international reserves of the Russian Federation decreased from $833.6 billion to $809.3 billion. However, the real state of the financial system is much worse, as about $300 billion of this amount is frozen assets abroad that the Kremlin cannot use. Gold currently accounts for almost 47% of all reserves, making it virtually the only liquid resource at the disposal of the Russian authorities.
The excessive burden on reserves is caused by a combination of factors: the need to patch holes in the deficit budget, complete isolation from the world’s reserve currencies due to restrictions, and the need for yuan funds to intervene in the foreign exchange market. This activity of the Russian Federation is fundamentally contrary to the global trend, as most central banks around the world are now actively building up their gold portfolios to protect against dollar dependence and diversify assets. The current situation emphasizes the deep crisis of the Russian financial model, where gold has ceased to be a strategic reserve and has become a temporary substitute for cash. At the same time, Moscow’s critical dependence on the Chinese currency and financial instruments is increasing, and Beijing sees this state of affairs as quite beneficial to itself.
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