Russia overtook China to become the fifth-largest gold holder among central banks around the world, while Western sanctions pushed its central bank's yellow metal purchases to record highs in 2018.
With the support of President Vladimir Putin, the Russian central bank is betting heavily on the precious metal, which is usually seen as a safe haven or natural hedge against the dollar, with active purchases in the past 10 months.
In 2018, Russia's purchases of gold saw another jump as its US Treasury holdings curtailed after Washington imposed sanctions on Russian entities in April, the toughest since Moscow annexed the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The central bank said it bought 8.8 million ounces (31.1 grams) of gold last year, above its record of 7.2 million ounces in 2017.
On January 1, the central bank had 67.9 million ounces of gold, up from 59.1 million ounces in early 2018, making it the fifth largest gold holder after the United States, Germany, France and Italy.
China fell to sixth place with its announcement of a one-time increase in gold reserves in more than two years, rising to 59.6 million ounces in December 2018 from 59.2 million ounces in October 2016.