Russian stock exchanges’ adaptation during military conflicts: A comparative historical analysis (1913—1919 and 2021—2026)

The article examines the institutional adaptation of Russian exchange institutions under limit regimes — war and a sanctions-induced infrastructural rupture — when the policy priority shifts from competitive price discovery to preserving settlement continuity, collateral valuation, and the controllability of intermediaries’ balance sheets. The main comparison covers 1913—1919 and 2021—2026, while the 1998 Russian crisis is used as a control episode to test the limits of the “financial fortress” concept. The paper argues that the 1918 “grey market” was not an analogue of today’s over-the-counter segment but a symptom of the collapse of public price formation after the dismantling of private property rights and the repudiation of the previous debt order. By contrast, the post-2022 trajectory unfolded under the preservation of private property, corporate legal continuity, and the rights of domestic investors. Consequently, a “financial fortress” is defined not merely as technological segregation and a sovereign-debt anchor, but as a coordinated regime combining legal continuity of ownership rights, macroeconomic discipline, national settlement infrastructure, segmentation of the external perimeter, and a domestic investor base.