iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Russian recruitment roundup, September 2026

Russian recruitment was close to 1,000 per day in August. Regional budgets suggest that Russia recruited ~234,000 soldiers this year, 10% less than last year, while sign-on bonuses continue to rise and coercive recruitment practices spread across the country. janiskluge.substack.com/p/russian-re...

janiskluge.substack.com

Russian recruitment remained close to 1,000 per day in August, according to regional budget data. To cover the cost, regions are increasingly cutting other spending, including regional coffin money.

314841

This is the situation at gas stations in Nizhny Novgorod, which is supplied by the Kstovo refinery. Kstovo was attacked on August 26. Since then, the gasoline crisis has returned to the city.

1516

The Kirishi refinery, a major supplier of gasoline to St. Petersburg, was attacked by Ukraine on August 29–30. A few days later, queues began forming at gas stations across the city, and the share of open gas stations in St. Petersburg fell.

1538

Russian recruitment roundup, September 2026

janiskluge.substack.com

Russian recruitment remained close to 1,000 per day in August, according to regional budget data. To cover the cost, regions are increasingly cutting other spending, including regional coffin money.

314841

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 09/09/2026

The situation has improved in some cities, while long queues remain in others. For some reason, it is currently worsening in St. Petersburg and in Nizhny Novgorod.

0444

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 09/09/2026

Lots of gas stations in Russia sell only diesel.

0527

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 09/09/2026

Russian gasoline prices reached a new all-time high last week, according to Rosstat.

413024

Reposted by Janis Kluge

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 05/09/2026

"At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell a more troubling story for the Kremlin." - my short analysis of Russian state finances: www.swp-berlin.org/en/publicati...

Russian military spending soars, upending the Kremlin’s budget plans

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell...

37526

Reposted by Janis Kluge

Sabine Fischer @sabfis3.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Want to learn more about the economic and fiscal challenges the Kremlin is facing because of its war of aggression against Ukraine? Check out my colleague @jakluge.de‘s analysis and dashboard on trends in Russia‘s state budget. Super illuminating! www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/...

Russian military spending soars, upending the Kremlin’s budget plans

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell...

0499

Reposted by Janis Kluge

Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) @swp-berlin.org · 04/09/2026

Vor der Duma-Wahl stehen Präsident Putin & die Kremlpartei Einiges Russland vor großen Herausforderungen: Ukrainische Drohnen & Raketen treffen Ziele weit im Hinterland, die Wirtschaft schwächelt, & die Stimmung im Land verschlechtert sich, so @sabfis3.bsky.social: www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/...

Noch eine Scheinwahl in Russland

Die bevorstehende Abstimmung über die neunte Staatsduma

0215

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 05/09/2026

Volgograd cancelled its youth festival "ThreeFour" this year. It was already fully organized and prepared, but the governor said the money was needed to pay sign-on bonuses for contract soldiers. Sign-on bonuses were increased to 3.4 million rubles. v1.ru/text/gorod/2...

35113

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 05/09/2026

Russian military spending soars, upending the Kremlin’s budget plans

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell...

37526

Reposted by Janis Kluge

Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) @swp-berlin.org · 04/09/2026

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell a more troubling story for the Kremlin, adding to doubts about how long Russia can sustain the war, writes @jakluge.de. www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/...

Russian military spending soars, upending the Kremlin’s budget plans

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin tried to dispel concerns about the state of Russia’s public finances. But the numbers tell...

1243

If you are curious about the latest details of Russian military spending, I recommend the interactive SWP Russian Budget Monitor. You can browse the different components of military spending, view how each of them has changed over time in charts & export all data: www.swp-berlin.org/en/publicati...

03610

In 2026, military spending accounts for 44% of all Russian federal budget spending, a new all-time high. Link to the data (SWP Russian Budget Monitor): data.swp-berlin.org/ru-budget-tr...

16417

Russian military spending continues to soar: In the first half of 2026 it was 10.7 trillion rubles, or 10.5% of H1 GDP. Relative to the projected full-year GDP, military spending currently stands at 4.7%. The full-year plan in the budget law was 6.4% of GDP. data.swp-berlin.org/ru-budget-tr...

2334

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 02/09/2026

Russian oil & gas revenues fell in August. The Iran war led to a small revenue bump this year, but no windfall. Domestic gasoline subsidies ate up a big portion of the price effect.

16512

What is Putin's biggest problem at the moment? In my view, it is how people inside and outside the regime are thinking about the future. After the last few months, that future looks a lot darker and more dangerous. Commenting for the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/w...

1549

Reposted by Janis Kluge

fry69 @fry69.dev · 02/09/2026

Highly recommended short (10 min) documentary from WSJ about Russia's recruitment tactics, especially how those affect poorer regions. -> www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifVQ...

youtube.com

How Putin’s War Pay Is Creating New Wealth in Russia | WSJ

YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal

0173

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 02/09/2026

🎥 New WSJ mini documentary "Inside Russia's War Boomtowns" by Milan Czerny is out! It shows how the influx of war money is changing poor Russian regions such as Buryatiya. Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifVQ...

24510

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 27/08/2026

Russia's federal budget execution currently reports a deficit of 3.8% of GDP. The plan for the full year was 1.6% of GDP.

46515

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 26/08/2026

Latest price data confirms: Gasoline shortages in Russia are worsening again, while the diesel situation is a bit more stable.

17015

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 22/08/2026

Russia's new fuel crisis is mainly a gasoline crisis, not a diesel crisis. This makes sense: Russia is producing much more diesel than it consumes, while its gasoline production is below demand at the moment. In more recent data, many gas stations only have diesel in stock.

29619

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 22/08/2026

Levada poll: The share of Russians who say the political situation is calm or positive is decreasing lately, the share of Russians who say it's tense or even critical is rising. Source: www.levada.ru/2026/08/14/o...

0513

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 21/08/2026

Gasoline tracker is live again... let's see how the next days develop. The situation has apparently worsened again.

1528

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 21/08/2026

Die Preise für Eigentumswohnungen in Berlin-Kreuzberg sind seit 2021 inflationsbereinigt um 20% gefallen.

3310

Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 21/08/2026

Correction: No new actions yet - this was old news with the wrong date. 🙈

0322

There is one interesting (preliminary) data point, however, and that is August vs. July 2026 (not included in the detailed time series yet): It says that M1 (cash and transferable ruble deposits together) fell by 0.4% in July, while rubles cash in circulation rose by 2.9%.

1303

Here is another chart on Russian household assets (excluding businesses). Both transferable deposits and ruble cash increased from a year ago.

2396

Some clarification on "Russians are withdrawing cash" - below you see cash in circulation (blue line). True, it has increased. But when you check deposits (green line), they have also increased. Russians are not withdrawing their money. The share of cash remained mostly the same.

25810