Russia without SWIFT: intelligence confirms complete isolation of the banking system
12 September 2025 14:54
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service has reported that no Russian bank has been able to regain access to the SWIFT international financial messaging system after it was shut down in 2022. The volume of Russian financial traffic has decreased tenfold, and domestic transactions have almost disappeared, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The dynamics of the decline
- 2022 – traffic decreased by 55.5%, the number of messages dropped to 70 million.
- 2023 – another 65.7% drop to 24 million messages.
- 2024 – minus 25.3%, to 18 million.
- Inthe first half of 2025, the number of messages dropped by another 6.6%, to 8 million.
Thus, the system has actually lost its importance for Russia as a channel for international transactions.
How sanctions are circumvented
Russian businesses are trying to replace the losses with alternative mechanisms:
- using cryptocurrencies,
- cash payments,
- netting schemes,
- opening accounts abroad.
But none of these tools can fully replace SWIFT, which remains the key to international payments.
Why it matters
According to intelligence estimates, this proves the effectiveness of Western sanctions that isolate the Russian financial system from global markets. Despite the Kremlin’s claims of “stability,” the actual data show that financial isolation is increasing.
As a reminder, 93 Russian financial institutions have been disconnected from SWIFT since February 2022. This was one of the most painful sanctions measures, as the system serves more than 11 thousand banks and companies in more than 200 countries. Such a disconnection was previously applied only to Iran, which led to a serious economic crisis.
