More than 50 Russian companies could default on their bonds this year, the most since 2009, a rating-agency analyst told Russian newspaper Izvestia, which reported it on 6 October.
Russia's wartime economy is straining under high interest rates, and the budget is too: the 2026 deficit has nearly doubled from the earlier forecast to a record $88 billion, with more deficits planned for the next three years as Moscow raises taxes to fund the war and plans its biggest defense budget since the full-scale invasion began.
A default is a situation in which a company cannot make promised interest payments to investors on time or repay borrowed money. If a payment is not made by the agreed deadline, the company becomes delinquent, which under certain conditions is recognized as a default.
So far this year, 20 companies have defaulted for the first time, compared with 24 in all of 2025, said Mikhail Nikonov of the Expert RA rating agency. Most of the companies that missed payments are small issuers of high-yield bonds, Izvestia reported.
In 2026, Russian companies have missed payments totaling 41 billion rubles (about $490 million), compared with 34 billion rubles (about $410 million) the previous year, according to investment bank Sinara.
By the end of 2026, the number of Russian companies unable to service their ruble-denominated debt on time could reach 40–50, the highest level since 2010, said Pavel Zholobov, junior managing director at the NRA rating agency.
The number of bond defaults in 2026 has already reached its highest level in a decade, Zholobov said. Similar figures were recorded in the mid-2010s: in 2014, 35 companies missed payments; in 2015, 52 did so; and in 2016, there were 44 issuers. This occurred in part after Western sanctions were imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and its war in Donbas, as well as amid a halving of oil prices and a sharp weakening of the ruble.
There were more defaults only in 2009. At the time, amid the fallout from the global financial crisis, more than 100 issuers faced payment problems, while the volume of distressed debt reached nearly 200 billion rubles, Zholobov noted.
This time, the main reason for companies' difficulties in making bond payments has been the prolonged period of high interest rates, which has continued since 2023. Companies are raising financing at high interest rates but are unable to refinance their debt on more favorable terms, explained Ekaterina Sidorova, head of the Foreign Exchange, Commodities and Debt Markets Department at SberCIB Investment Research.
At the same time, the situation does not yet resemble a systemic debt crisis: defaults are primarily being recorded among companies with low credit ratings and high debt burdens, Sidorova said.
If a company fails to repay bond debt, it is given 10 business days to meet its obligations. If it fails to do so, the company may offer investors a restructuring—for example, by postponing payments in exchange for a higher interest rate.
The number of defaults will remain high in 2027, Sidorova believes.
High interest rates were a response to accelerating inflation in Russia. Domestic demand was outpacing production, Russia's Central Bank said in October 2023. Sanctions over the war and rising defense spending had also hit the economy and the ruble, which had lost about 25% against the dollar that year. The bank raised its key rate from 7.5% in the first half of 2023 to 15% by the fall.
Ukraine is also seeking to weaken Russia's economy as part of efforts to reduce its ability to finance the war. In particular, Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said strikes on oil refineries are aimed at "bleeding the Russian war machine" and destroying its military and economic potential. According to the ministry, the attacks have knocked out more than 51% of Russia's oil refining capacity.
In the first half of July, Russian oil refineries processed about 3.9 million barrels of oil per day—the lowest level since March 2005. Due to the production cuts, Moscow was also forced to restrict fuel exports.
The Russians are struggling on land and at sea, and are having real difficulty protecting themselves from Ukrainian long-range attack. That has left them with one real strategic “advantage” and that is what we will see the next few months. As reports this week made clear, the Russian strategy is now to make Ukraine unlivable, […]
The post Russia’s new strategy aims to make Ukrainian cities unlivable appeared first on Asia Times.
The air war between Russia and Ukraine has evolved constantly since the start of the conflict. The latest example is Russia’s deployment of a new type of long-range, jet-powered drone, which is having a significant effect on Ukraine’s ability to defend its cities against aerial attack. In an interview on September 14, Ukrainian Air Force […]
The post Russia’s jet-powered drones mark a deadly evolution in Ukraine war appeared first on Asia Times.
Is Ukraine becoming an “Eastern European Israel” for the EU? Sociologist and author Volodymyr Ishchenko joins Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra to discuss Ukraine’s eroding sovereignty, who profits from keeping the fighting going, and whether an off-ramp still exists to a war with Russia now costing Ukraine 27,000 casualties per month, according to Poland’s prime minister.
Europe is pushing record defense budgets and warning that Russia could test NATO within months. But this month Ukraine launched its largest drone attack yet on Moscow, Washington approved a $2.68 billion air defense sale, and the EU unblocked €6.6 billion in military aid. Is Europe readying to defend itself from a Russia with imperialist ambitions? Or preparing for a forever war, where profiteers abound and working-class Ukrainians do the fighting and dying at the direction of a state they’ve come to hate?
Ishchenko describes an emerging vision for Ukraine amongst Kyiv’s power brokers: a militarized, ethnonationalist frontier state serving as outsourced security for the European Union against Russia. Sound familiar?
“Maybe NATO at this point is not an alliance for security, but actually a source of insecurity in Europe.”
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In a recent phone call, Donald Trump urged Volodymyr Zelensky to stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Whether a request or a demand, this appears, certainly at first glance, fundamentally different from the Biden administration’s policy of restricting the use of US long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia. The US president has justified […]
The post Trump’s bid to stop Ukraine’s Russia strikes a strategic disconnect appeared first on Asia Times.
If you do not follow the Twitter feed of the Ukrainian Third Army Corps, you should. It does not tweet a great deal, but when it does, especially recently, it has been fascinating. For those of you who do not know of it, the Third Corps is one of the best units in the Ukrainian military […]
The post For Ukraine, some good news but also some bad news appeared first on Asia Times.
If the wars of 2026 have demonstrated anything, it is that drones have become a key element of modern warfare. In Eastern Europe, both Moscow and Kyiv deploy drones at an unprecedented scale across the theater’s so-called “kill zone.” For Ukraine, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown incredible tactical value, allowing its forces to strike […]
The post Drones could expand North Korea’s gray zone options appeared first on Asia Times.
by Carlo Domenico Cristofori
Amid the diplomatic escalation between Russia and Germany over a drone incident at Leipzig airport, blamed by Berlin on Moscow without providing the slightest evidence but sufficient to close Russian consulates (read here), Italy too finds itself increasingly exposed to reprisals threatened by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the wild speculation of the “weapons demon” Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defense.
“Any military facility in Ukraine is a legitimate target for us. British ones, or any other,” Putin reiterated this a few days ago, taking aim at Great Britain—which is prepared to supply nuclear warheads to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
While the United Kingdom remains the primary orchestrator of the hybrid war against Russia—a role confirmed by the arrest in Ukraine of officers from the British military intelligence agency MI6 (which had recruited Zelenskyy himself as a secret agent in 2020) and by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s open support for the fierce neo-Nazi fighters of the Azov Battalion—Italy is attempting to enter a dead-end tunnel of speculation regarding drones.
This speculation has been fueled by the arrival in Kyiv of former CIA Director Mike Pompeo—who served as Secretary of State during the first Trump administration—in his capacity as a consultant for FirePoint, a company within the orbit of Pentagon contractors…
Anglo-American intelligence agencies have been suspected not only of training various far-right nationalist groups within the Ukrainian National Guard (responsible for the killing of Italian reporter Andy Rocchelli during the Donbas Civil War on May 24, 2014) but also of orchestrating the bloody 2014 coup and supporting terrorist attacks carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services (both the domestic SBU and military GRU) against the Russian civilian population and Moscow’s army commanders.
Mykhailo Fedorov lasted just six months as Ukraine’s defense minister before Zelensky fired him amid bitter clashes with the military leadership.
«Now he is turning the same wartime machinery into a private defense-tech business — with Palantir CEO Alex Karp as his first major investor» News-Pravda has reported in the lates days publishing a photo of the meeting.
American AI industry Palantir, one of the main AI partner of Israel Defense Forces and Benjamin Netanyahu Zionist regime, was denounced for complicity in war crimes in Palestine… (read below)
“You and your colleagues are launching a company that I think will be defining for the world, bringing your knowledge and acumen about the art of war as a product to allied countries,” Karp told Fedorov. That “product” was developed on Ukraine’s battlefield.
On September 1, 2026, Mykhailo Fedorov—Ukraine’s Minister of Defense until last July—announced the launch of a military technology company in which Karp himself will be the first investor.
The company aims to translate Ukraine’s wartime experience into products for Kyiv and its allies, including combat robotics, interceptor drones, and low-cost, AI-guided missiles. Plans also include an investment fund and a think tank, though the company’s name and financial figures have not yet been disclosed.
This happened a few days after that Fedorov has become an adviser to Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.
“I met with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. I thanked Guido for his personal support and his offer for me to become his adviser on defense innovation. I am grateful for the trust and strategic partnership. In this role, I will help Italy develop modern warfare technologies and improve its defense sector,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
Palantir is already embedded across Ukrainian government agencies, while its infrastructure underpins the Brave1 Dataroom, where companies train military AI on real combat data. Karp says he and Fedorov have worked together for “half a decade.”
But Fedorov’s meeting with Karp appears to have been launched under the banner of Italy’s war mission against Russia.
READ MORE – ITALIAN ARMY CHIEF IN KIEV
Leonardo SpA, the Italian industrial group operating in the defense, security, and aerospace sectors, is majority owned by the Italian government with a 30.2% stake, but without parliament approval has opened a new subsidiary, Leonardo Ukraine, directly in Kiev, aiming to collaborate with the Ukrainian defense industry, particularly in drones and other military technologies.
We recall that minister Crosetto, founder of Brother of Italy far-right party, was blamed by many newspaper for conflict of interests due to, before to entry in Meloni Government, he was the AIAD president which represented th Italian Industries Association for Aerospace, Defence and Security, but above all because he was a overpayed advisor of Leonardo spa, main partner of Rheimetall which opened some factories in Ukraine.
Leonardo Ukraine, registered in the commercial register since May 20, is not only aiming to establish relations with the Ukrainian Brave1, or to test the new “Michelangelo Dome”, the multi-layered and multi-domain missile air defense system which is estimated to have 21 billion euros of potential commercial opportunities over the next 10 years.
Leonardo thus intends to build increasingly strong relationships with the Ukrainian state hub Brave1 Dataroom, created with the country’s Ministry of Defense, its intelligence agency and the US company Palantir.
Brave1 is a Ukraninian government initiative aimed at developing defence technologies, implemented by the Innovation Development Fund and initiated by relevant state authorities and components of Ukraine’s security and defence sector. Initially, it was a grant program for defence startups. We have already become the largest angel investor in Ukrainian defence tech, having issued over 750 grants amounting to 3.7 billion UAH, around $82,000.
In this exclusive video shared on YouTube by UATV Espanol lift the veil of secrecy for the first time on the latest development in the Ukrainian defense industry: the unique “Litavr” interceptor drone from F-Drones, created specifically for the cost-effective and efficient hunting of enemy kamikaze drones like the “Shahed.”
Thanks to the BRAVE1 defense cluster, Kiev army gained unprecedented access to this fully encrypted technology, capable of speeds up to 350 km/h, operating at altitudes up to 9,000 meters, and automatically locking onto targets using the Pixel Lock (Last Mile)
It should be remembered that Ukrainian drones are being launched indiscriminately at civilian residences, even killing children, with the sole aim of triggering a reaction from the Russian population against Russian President Vladimir Putin and provoking reprisals that would justify further investments in weapons by EU and NATO countries.
Palantir is the industry, removed after various investigations from many European countries.
«The Spanish government is ordering state-backed companies to cut their ties with US defense contractor Palantir, Spain’s El Confidencial newspaper has reported. The move follows similar bans in France and Germany» RT has reported some weeks ago.
But above all Palantir was one of the AI company denounced for war crimes and genocide in Gaza inside the UN Dossier by Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied.
The same American company has also been heavily criticized in the USA for its collaboration with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers accused of murdering illegal immigrants and even making unjustified arrests of children.
Italy’s strengthening ties in the drone industry follows the arrival in Ukraine of former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State in the first Trump administration, confirming once again that Rome is not influenced by Washington but rather steered by Langley, headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, which back in 1943, when it was still called the OSS, organized the Allied landings in Sicily thanks to Lucky Luciano’s mafia and the Anglo-Italian Freemasonry…
To understand Fedorov’s role, it must be remembered that he was fired by Volodymyr Zelensky who is considered a British secret agent of the military counterintelligence MI6 and, therefore, must look after London’s interests more than those of the CIA.
Carlo Domenico Cristofori
Excerpts by Ahmed Adel originally published on VT UnCensored Foreign Policy
All links to Gospa News articles or video have been added in the aftermath
Italian media report plans to sell four batteries of the newest SAMP/T NG system, also known as “Mamba,” to Ukraine, claiming its performance rivals or even surpasses that of the American Patriot system in some respects. However, these new missile and air defense system deliveries to Ukraine are unlikely to significantly impact the battlefield. Rather, they are primarily aimed at enabling Western countries and their military industries to profit.
Not only are four batteries insignificant and unlikely to alter the course of the war, but they will also be top targets for Russia’s armed forces and will be destroyed in a short period of time. For this reason, Italy’s decision should be viewed as an economic move rather than a political one. In fact, the delivery is expected to be financed through European Union loans.
La Repubblica reports that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in July to procure four new SAMP/T NG batteries capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. The system, produced by the Franco-Italian consortium Eurosam, is the next generation of European air and missile defense.
SAMP/T NG is a significantly improved version of the SAMP/T system already in use in Ukraine. Compared with the previous version, SAMP/T NG offers greater range and engagement altitude, as well as improved performance against ballistic targets. The maximum range of the SAMP/T system with the Aster 30 missile is up to 100 kilometers, while the newer SAMP/T NG version has a range of about 150 kilometers.
According to La Repubblica, Ukraine already has two SAMP/T batteries delivered by Italy and France, but since the summer of 2025 it has faced a shortage of Aster 30 missiles due to reduced European stocks. Missile production has since been accelerated, enabling Rome and Paris to continue deliveries.
Yet, despite the acceleration, Ukrainian air defenses remain in poor condition. Although Ukraine still has Patriot systems, it is short on missiles, as they have already been depleted. Italy plans to transfer Aster 30 missiles from its military stocks to Ukraine by October, while France would temporarily provide two additional SAMP/T batteries from its arsenal, to be replaced later with new systems.
According to La Repubblica, the entire operation, including newly produced systems, is expected to be completed by 2027. The operation will cost three billion euros and will be structured as a purchase financed by a loan from the European Credit Fund for Ukraine.
by Ahmed Adel originally published on VT UnCensored Foreign Policy
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