Russia Fires Top Economist After Warning on Ukraine War Costs

Andrei Klepach, former chief economist of Russia's state-controlled development bank VEB, was dismissed on Sunday, August 16, 2026, following reports of his earlier comments.

Klepach, a former deputy economy minister, reportedly presented a report warning that Russia could not win a prolonged war of attrition with Ukraine and predicted a major social crisis. In a May 21 speech to fellow economists, published on the Nikitsky Club website, Klepach stated, "In this war of attrition, we will not win the competition. Our costs are mounting."

He added, "I believe Russia won't collapse, but I'm almost certain that we'll end up in a social crisis." He also warned, "We are falling behind. We are losing both the technological and economic competition in the world. And we are losing it not only to China and the United States, in some ways we are losing it to Ukraine too," attributing Ukraine's resilience to Western financial support.

The exiled independent Russian outlet The Bell, citing unnamed sources, first reported that Klepach's dismissal was directly linked to his scathing economic assessment. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that he was fired over remarks made in May that resurfaced in Russian media last week. Klepach confirmed his dismissal to Reuters. Klepach worked for VEB for 12 years and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development for ten years.

His economic diagnosis sharply contrasts with President Vladimir Putin's assessment. Putin stated in June that efforts to cool the Russian economy were deliberate, citing the Central Bank's key interest rate at 14.5% as a difficult decision to fight for the health of the Russian economy.