Russia's reserve funds for war exceed $150B - intel

The Kremlin is covering the fall in budget revenues from reserve funds, which were actively filled with foreign currency and gold before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their volume is estimated at over $150 billion.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine's military intelligence, stated this in a commentary to Ukrinform.

"Actually, it is from these reserves that Russia finances its war. It maintains the army, manufactures, and purchases weapons," Yusov said.

Ukrainian military intelligence believes that Russia's resources are not unlimited. War is very expensive. So, the process of systemic crisis in Russia is irreversible. It is only a matter of time.

In addition to reserves, Russia generates revenue through oil exports. At the start of the year, Russian exports amounted to 8.3 million barrels of oil per day, the highest level since April 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). China was the largest buyer (43% of Russian crude oil exports), followed by India (36%), the EU (8%), and Türkiye (3%).

However, after the price cap for Russian oil purchases was set in December last year, revenues from the oil and gas industry, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance, decreased by 52% in the first four months of 2023 compared to January-April 2022.

As reported, Russian crude oil supplies were beginning to show signs of decline four months after the country announced a production cut.