Russia’s Defense Ministry Seeks Access to Citizens’ Credit Histories

Russia is moving to expand the powers of Russia’s Defense Ministry by granting military leadership access to citizens’ credit histories, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) on January 28.

According to the Center, a draft order would give the head of Russia’s Main Military-Political Directorate the authority to request data from financial institutions. This would include full financial records such as loans, outstanding debts, guarantors, and other credit-related information.

The move is being presented by Russian authorities as part of an effort to combat corruption. However, the Center notes that the Main Military-Political Directorate is not an anti-corruption body but an institution responsible for ideological and so-called military-patriotic work within the armed forces. Granting it access to financial dossiers would effectively merge ideological oversight with financial surveillance.

“Under the guise of anti-corruption efforts, Russia is building a system of control in which security agencies gain access to citizens’ personal and financial data. This is yet another step toward a military-police state,” the center added.

The CCD also warns that credit histories could be used as a tool of pressure in the context of mobilization in Russia. The Defense Ministry would be able to identify financially vulnerable individuals and potentially use this information to coerce them into signing military contracts or to carry out “preventive work” against those deemed disloyal.

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The proposal reflects a continuing trend toward expanded state monitoring of financial transactions in Russia. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has already signed legislation allowing the country’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, to directly access transaction data from the Mir payment card system and the Central Bank’s Faster Payments System.

Under amendments to Russia’s anti-money laundering law, Rosfinmonitoring no longer needs to request information from commercial banks to monitor transfers made via the Faster Payments System, which processes up to 60 million transactions per day and accounts for around $882–910 billion annually. Instead, the data will be transmitted directly to the agency by the National Payment Card System.

Earlier, Russia’s National Payment Card System called on banks to phase out any remaining Visa and Mastercard cards still in domestic use after the security certificates built into their chips expired on January 1, 2026.

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