Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Earlier this week, Putin signed a decree that allows assets of dead Russian citizens to be seized by the federal authorities.
Russian officials are moving aggressively to police how money changes hands across the country.
Speaking at a Rosfinmonitoring anniversary ceremony, President Vladimir Putin urged the watchdog to ease rules for legitimate firms while tightening oversight of suspicious deals.
He claimed foreign spies and criminal rings use cryptocurrencies to “cover up shadow transactions” and recruit youth.
“Your task is to see, so to speak, on distant approaches, before they cause real damage, and to do this, we must effectively use financial intelligence tools and more actively implement advanced analytical models and artificial intelligence technologies,” the president stated.
Blocked cards and frozen accounts
Ordinary citizens are already feeling that pressure directly. According to The Moscow Times, the state crackdown has led to widespread account freezes and blocked cards.
Earlier this summer, lawmakers gave commercial banks the power to pause outgoing money transfers for up to six hours whenever an algorithm flags suspicious activity.
Now, the restrictions are going further. Under a Rosfinmonitoring proposal submitted in September, banks could freeze personal accounts for five days if client details merely resemble an entry on a financial blacklist.
A costly war
Tax collectors want greater visibility into everyday cash as well. Russian outlet Vedomosti reported that the Finance Ministry prepared draft rules enabling tax authorities and the central bank to share transfer data, closing loopholes on money sent between private citizens.
Behind this intense surveillance lies a massive drain on state coffers. In 2026, Russian war spending soared to roughly 17 trillion rubles, or about $200 billion, after the Kremlin boosted its military budget by 40 percent. Analysts attribute the escalation in spending to Moscow’s calculation that diplomatic efforts involving US President Donald Trump are unlikely to yield favorable terms.
The financial toll is staggering. As The Moscow Times reported, defense spending pushed Russia’s projected 2026 budget deficit past 7 trillion rubles, or $82 billion. With military costs escalating, authorities are seeking to tap every available revenue stream.
Seizing deceased Russians’ assets
A presidential decree signed by Putin on November 2 authorizes Rosimushchestvo, Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency, to compile lists of bank accounts, deposits, and precious-metal holdings belonging to citizens who have been dead for more than five years and whose heirs have never come forward.
The money, once listed, goes to the federal budget.
The procedural change is the heart of the decree: Rosimushchestvo’s registry serves as the legal basis for the transfer, removing the notarial certificate of escheated property that previous law required.
Banks have 15 working days from receiving the agency’s demand to move the funds. By December 1, 2026, the Federal Tax Service must hand Rosimushchestvo its first batch of data on deceased account holders, drawn from tax records, notarial chambers, bailiffs, and the banks themselves, according to Russian legal outlet Online47.
