Russia’s rail freight transport falls to 16 year low – CCD
According to Ukrinform, this was reported on Telegram by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
“Based on 2025 results, declines in freight volumes of Russia’s railway monopoly Russian Railways were recorded in 13 out of 15 cargo categories,” the statement reads.
It is noted that grain shipments fell by more than 12%, construction materials by over 10%, and timber by nearly 6%. The steepest declines were registered in shipments of industrial raw materials and ferrous metals — 16% and 17.7% respectively. Russia has not seen such low figures since 2009.
The CCD emphasized that freight volumes are an important indicator of the state of the economy, particularly in conditions where Russian statistics manipulate macroeconomic data. Russian Railways’ freight volumes have been steadily declining for the fourth consecutive year — since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“While Russian propaganda attempts to portray the war and sanctions as beneficial to Russia, the situation at Russian Railways points to an impending systemic economic crisis that is spreading across all sectors of production and negatively affecting the lives of the majority of Russian citizens,” the Center stressed.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has demanded that the government significantly increase tax collection in 2026, amid Russia’s economic stagnation.
