No cash for salaries: Ukrainian intel exposes crisis in Russian regions
Photo: Russian regions cut civil servants amid budget shortfalls (corporatefinanceinstitute.com)
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense released a new intercepted conversation among residents of a Russian province, highlighting the dire state of regional budgets in Russia. A lack of funds is reportedly forcing local authorities to slash administrative staff.
The conversation reportedly centers on plans to cut up to 20% of employees in administrative structures.
"There's not even enough money in the budgets to pay salaries," one local resident said.
Authorities are reportedly attempting to avoid outright layoffs by offering affected employees alternative positions. However, these moves come with added bureaucratic requirements and demands for additional education, fueling public frustration.
"People are effectively being 'pushed out' of one structure just to be artificially placed in another, creating new formal positions with no real work," the resident said, expressing confusion over the logic of such decisions.
The conversation also highlighted a lack of infrastructure for community initiatives—residents want to gather to discuss local issues, but there are no available meeting spaces.
Meanwhile, funding for cultural centers is reportedly maintained on paper, even as demand for these facilities continues to grow.
Russia's economy closed out 2025 in deep crisis. Oil prices fell to a five-year low, while the country's space industry has regressed to levels not seen since 1961.
At the same time, US pressure on Russia has intensified. President Donald Trump recently signed a bipartisan law significantly expanding the scope of US sanctions.
Also, on January 19, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for Russia's 2026 economic growth by 0.2 percentage points, to just 0.8%.
