While the kremlin Finances the War, Thousands of russian Schools Are Left Without Water and Heat

As the kremlin continues to ruin the country’s economy with unprecedented spending on the war against Ukraine, on September 1, russian children will once again return to schools without heating or a centralized water supply.

As of mid-summer, the rf’s budget deficit was already approaching a record 8.7 trillion rubles – more than double the 3.8 trillion rubles projected for all of 2026. The financial situation is also rapidly deteriorating in the banking sector. In the last three months alone, the share of non-performing loans in the portfolio of the country’s largest state-owned bank – “sberbank” – rose from 4.8% to 5.5%, while the total volume of overdue debt reached 2.6 trillion rubles.

At the same time, despite colossal military spending, 3,600 schools in russia still lack centralized heating, 3,700 need water supply and sewage systems, and 3,800 don’t even have heated toilets. The situation is worst in the republic of tuva, where 72% of schools still lack centralized heating. kalmykia, ingushetia, and the altai republic follow closely behind. Even in kursk region 27% of schools also operate without heating.

The situation with water supply is no better. Children in 38% of schools in dagestan, 33% in yakutia, and 31% in kalmykia are attending schools without access to running water. A telling example is the yakut village of topolinoe, where 137 children will continue to attend a school that was officially declared unsafe back in 2017. The building is 75% dilapidated, with 65% of the foundation destroyed and nearly 70% of the floor slabs damaged. And this is not some remote, impoverished settlement lacking resources. The village is located near one of russia’s largest gold deposits – the nezhdaninskoye deposit.

It is telling that in the first half of 2026 alone, the kremlin sold over 43 tons of gold from state reserves to plug budget holes and continue financing the war. As always, there were no funds available to repair schools or provide children with heat and water.