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News & Current Events Apr 20, 2026 at 12:21 PM

Russian economy faces 'financial disaster,' Sweden's spy chief warns as Moscow hides true deficit

Posted by MilesLongthe3rd

Russian economy faces 'financial disaster,' Sweden's spy chief warns as Moscow hides true deficit
The Kyiv Independent
Russian economy faces 'financial disaster,' Sweden's spy chief warns as Moscow hides true deficit
Stockholm believes that Moscow is "living on borrowed time," Sweden's military intelligence chief Thomas Nilsson said.
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readthatlastyear 5 days ago +355
When it happens - expect coups, hyperinflation and total economic collapse and foreign dependence. Likely China I assume will step in and finally (historic Russian fear) get unlimited Russia resources
355
Jabiene 4 days ago +155
Yup, I’ve played enough EU4 to recognise when someone is about to become a vassal state
155
jordyGW 4 days ago +51
Lol perhaps they will be forced to release Novgorod as an independent state. 
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jasie3k 4 days ago +5
Novgorod might have lost its cores
5
Kind_Singer_7744 4 days ago +38
Russia will be lucky if china doesnt demand manchuria as the price for help.
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Zonesy 4 days ago +23
They don't even need to demand, they'll just take it and Russia can't do anything.
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Photomancer 4 days ago +17
"In light of the recent instability and the rising threat of terrorism and revolutionary forces, we have seen fit to install peacekeeping forces in the [X] region. We will install support infrastructure for our mutual benefit, and as time goes on we will discuss a framework for co-administration of the region. Additionally, we will be hiring local labor supplemented by our own experts, and may at our discretion offer relocation assistance to residents unable to sustain their current homes" It practically writes itself. Twenty years later it will *feel* like your territory, and nobody will raise serious opposition when you take ownership, blaming its 'forfeiture' on the failed state.
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KazumaKat 4 days ago +6
Just manchuria? my friend, there are much better cards on the table...
6
speelmydrink 4 days ago +20
Shame they've already spent their saber rattling token on a massively failed land grab that's put them into this position and proven their military was always an outdated paper tiger.
20
Fragrant-Ad-5517 4 days ago +10
Mandarin Chinese will be the official language and RMB will be the official currency in Russia.
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shifty_fifty 4 days ago +6
Is there a future scenario where western countries are faced with either keeping Russia afloat / independent or letting China take it over? I hope not
6
NeedsMoreSpaceships 4 days ago +33
There is no chance of China taking Russia over. China, unlike the current US leadership recognises that the way to be modern hegemon is through economic influence and soft power. They will buy all of Russian industry, lend them tons of money and get what they want without having to run the state. And nobody will do anything about it because it's subtle, gradual and nobody else has the strategic vision or money to.
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Infinite_throwaway_1 4 days ago +9
Absolutely. It's cheaper to invade with logging and mining equipment under Russia's blessing than it is to invade with tanks and artillery under attack; followed by logging and mining equipment. Not to mention diverting military strength away from unfriendly neighbors towards a friendly one. And having to restructure defense infrastructure to defend a new longer border against a now unfriendly one.
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taoyx 4 days ago +6
Yeah let Russia be part of Ukraine.
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NaughtyCheffie 4 days ago +5
My bet is India, they're already making moves in the Baltic States as well as with Ukraine.
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Lase189 5 days ago +2134
I have been waiting for the war to end for years now and I see such headlines every month or so. Both Ukraine is gonna fold in months and Russia is gonna be penniless in weeks. Idk what's true anymore.
2134
irrealewunsche 5 days ago +1148
I will have a lot more faith in Ukraine outlasting Russia once the EU's 90billion loan is finalized - thank f*** that Hungary will no longer block Europe's efforts.
1148
Flangepacket 5 days ago +556
Squeeze it in before the new govt in Bulgaria starts ramping up
556
ArenjiTheLootGod 5 days ago +194
Or anyone else, the far right are a scourge everywhere and there are a lot more places closer to electing their own Orbans or Trumps than most people are willing to admit.
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captainnowalk 5 days ago +76
And it’s so weird, too, because a lot of the places are looking at the US, or Hungary, or Argentina, and saying “well, yeah, those guys came into power on the same platform and really fucked things up majorly, seriously damaging their countries! But! Our local fascist that is cut from the same cloth and is saying the same things is different, and they’re totally not gonna make the same mistakes!”
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ArenjiTheLootGod 5 days ago +30
Yep, nobody has learned a damn thing and everybody thinks they're either going to be the ones to make the fascist dream work or believes it can't happen to them or that if it does it will magically get taken care of immediately due to some unique quality inherent to *insert culture here.* Every conman knows that the best marks are the ones who believe they can't be fooled and fascist movements are nothing if not full of conmen.
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hornswoggled111 4 days ago +9
Sometimes that doesn't happen. Hungary, they were repulsed by American attempts to influence them. Canada was the opposite as well. Trump managed to turn their politics around by supporting the idiot similar to him.
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bombmk 5 days ago +10
The people that are looking are not the idiots voting for it. Give or take the outright evil ones.
10
GFischerUY 5 days ago +7
Honestly Argentina was more fucked before the current madman was put in power, it was an awful choice for voters. I'd personally would have voted the madman in. I was in Argentina a few months before and the currency I exchanged halved it's value in a week, and that was the opposing candidate 😝.
7
Catoblepas2021 5 days ago +6
Begun, the culture wars have.
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Kolbin8tor 5 days ago +5
No no it’s because Americans are idiots and it’s 100% just their fault, not a complex global phenomenon we all need to actively resist. I mean we do have so many idiots it’s embarrassing, but the real warning is that if you want to keep your democracies and alliances you cannot vote right wing. Which, should be obvious but here we are.
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williamgman 5 days ago +19
The issue the world needs to see about living in a country with free and fair elections is complacency. 88 million decided not to vote in the last presidential election. That number is larger than those that voted for Trump. Every election, the US political machine fights over the votes of less than 5 million people. It's pathetic.
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ArenjiTheLootGod 5 days ago +28
AFD is the second largest party in the German parliament, PVV may have lost in the Netherlands but the far right as a whole remains strong, Marine Le Pen has come way too close way too many times to winning in France, it wasn't all that long ago that UKIP was gaining power in the UK, and Mussolini's granddaughter is gathering steam in Italy. The US has a lot of very stupid people but they are not singularly unique in this, the only difference between them and the rest of the western democracies is that they lost the coinflip in 2024, all it'd take for the rest to fall is a little push at the right pressure points. Maybe it'll be economic downturn, political scandals or more refugees coming in from the Middle East. It really doesn't matter what the cause would be the point is that there is always a realistic path for it to happen anywhere at any time and anyone that believes that they're the special little girls and boys it can't happen to is fooling themselves.
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staphylococcass 5 days ago +7
Economic downturn and middle eastern refugees will exacerbate this problem? Well, I hope nobody decides to start a war with Iran then.
7
Homer565 5 days ago +51
👆🏻
51
Murda-P 5 days ago +6
[Slovakia has entered the chat](https://kyivindependent.com/slovakia-to-block-eu-loan-ukraine-if-orban-loses-hungarian-election-fico-says/)
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SortIntrepid9192 4 days ago +5
The new PM already said he would not block it or any other EU efforts to support Ukraine - it's just his stance that Bulgaria will not send money to Ukraine. Which is still not ideal, but also... aside from a one-time payment of 10m euro I don't think BG has ever sent money to Ukraine. We've spent way more money on accommodating Ukrainian refugees here than we ever have sent over there.
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geoken 5 days ago +83
Gain a Hungary, lose a Bulgaria.
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Killerfisk 5 days ago +14
That's like gaining $100 and losing $10. Totally worth it.
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wadevb1 5 days ago +4
Russian economists were spreading doom and gloom scenarios at the recent Moscow Economic Forum. The video is easy to find.
4
John-florencio 5 days ago +29
im not sure since oil prices are skyrocketing. a lot of money has ended in the pockets of the wrong people.
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The_Sideboob_Hour 5 days ago +59
The money is largely used to purchase weapons and equipment, not shipped over in suitcases with $ signs on it.
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AnticPosition 5 days ago +16
And guess who's selling oil without sanctions? 
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denNISI 5 days ago +3
All going to war efforts. No country can sustain a choking of oil supply for long!
3
asdhjasdhlkjashdhgf 5 days ago +8
sanctions were released on oil that was already on sea. Additional kinetic sanctions hampers export and disrupts operation. Increased world market prices make also the financial damage larger, not just the expected revenue. Think of it as larger swings on a curve, rather than a steady economy generating income to rely on. That means budget for what ever becomes difficult to project forward, uncertain.
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Senior_Strawberry_51 5 days ago +7
But now there is Bulgaria to block the loan
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SortIntrepid9192 4 days ago +9
Newly elected PM already said he wouldn't do that. There's a ton of misinformation out there basically painting him as a Russian puppet, but the fact is he's just old and nostalgic for Russia rather than openly supportive. He has also expressed a firm support for the EU and "a stronger Bulgarian voice through industrialization", which he won't get if he starts picking fights with Brussels.
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Heroyem 5 days ago +172
Same here, but there are real signs Russian economy is starting to crack big time. Putin even went public about it yesterday [https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/04/15/putin-demands-answers-as-russias-economy-undershoots-expectations-a92514](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/04/15/putin-demands-answers-as-russias-economy-undershoots-expectations-a92514)
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bestanonever 5 days ago +165
"We're all trying to find the guy who did this" vibes
165
VagrantShadow 5 days ago +48
I wonder when putin is going to go on the hunt for the man who made the claim that the russian army could take Kyiv in 3 days, 1,516 days ago.
48
PureLock33 4 days ago +6
that general probably accidentally fell out a window a long time ago.
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qatest 5 days ago +18
It could be any one of us
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BUDDHAKHAN 5 days ago +5
People are fixing to rain from the sky(out of windows)
5
RaggaDruida 5 days ago +88
I think what most people realise is that in most cases a collapse is not some sort of sudden, super critical instant event, but a gradual degradation of capabilities. And that a financial collapse also takes time before translating into material effects in the battleground.
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Low_Ambition_856 5 days ago +26
Black swan events are typically only rationalized in hindsight. We dont carry models that predict unknown unknown variables. Some analysts would predict that there's a lot of similarities to the collapse of the Soviet Union but at the same time Putin's analysts have not been very competent in the first place
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A_Poor_Miser 5 days ago +10
No one wants to be the one guy with bad news. 
10
MediumKoala8823 5 days ago +23
I would say the opposite. Things stubbornly persist with only warning signs because so much of modern finance is built on beliefs and speculation. When things actually crash they crash _quickly_.
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ILookLikeKristoff 5 days ago +7
Yeah 08 and dotcom both had like 1/3 of their total dip occur in the first month. They continued to decline but it slowed down almost immediately. The real tangibles of the economy take a while to respond but the hype bubble pops in days.
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framabe 5 days ago +14
from stagnation and decline to actual collapse can take a looong time. The Ottomans took 240 years before it happened. Spain 250 years. Great Britain 75 years Sovietunion 12 years. Russia WILL collapse as well. And looking as the US it feels like they want to speedrun collapse because they are so incompetent. But such things take time. And until someone stands ready to take over (China certainly seems to be chomping at the bit) such states will plod along, like undead corpses.
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hpark21 5 days ago +4
Only REAL significant "sudden, super critical instant event" that I can think of is the fall of Berlin wall.
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-Prophet_01- 5 days ago +25
Things will get a lot worse once the consequencea of the internet shutdown materialize. I can't imagine what a mess that would be in a western economy and I doubt it's good for Russian businesses. 
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buldozr 5 days ago +14
Yeah, it's like their government is putting them back into the stone age. You can hear discontent from even the loyalists these days, which means things are really bad. The "ordinary Russian" in Moscow is chafing, it's not only for the depressed _glubinka_ dwellers any more.
14
-Prophet_01- 5 days ago +10
Unless Putin kicks the bucket, he'll drag the entire country down the path of North Korea.  Crippling military spending and isolation have turned the formerly richer half of Korea into a country that can't produce enough food, even in times of peace. Unbelievable that this is still happening in the 21st century. 
10
AnyEmployment4054 5 days ago +9
Putin blamed the economic backlash on January and February having fever working days than other months... 
9
9ersaur 5 days ago +3
The extra insane thing is total war economies were basically bets and on the conquest of europe. Russia did this to themselves for a couple of cold war era industrial provinces that have been bombed into oblivion. It is pure insanity.
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MilesLongthe3rd 5 days ago +266
You don't have to guess, you can just look at the numbers and articles. * Russian oil and gas companies are reporting record losses. * The Russian automotive industry has been forced to introduce a 3–4 day work week due to falling demand and production issues. * Russian Railways is preparing to sell its crown jewel, a major asset in Moscow, as freight volumes continue to collapse month after month. * The Russian coal industry is failing to meet production quotas and is struggling to pay workers on time. * Chinese and other foreign workers have staged protests and walkouts over unpaid wages. * Russian milbloggers report that significantly fewer drones and missiles are being ordered, as the defense budget can no longer sustain previous volumes. * The Russian Central Bank is maintaining liquidity in the banking system at record-high levels to prevent a broader financial crisis.
266
Lase189 5 days ago +57
Okay, let's hope that puts an end to the war.
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Winterplatypus 4 days ago +9
The government still has a tools to postpone the crisis but at the cost of making it worse when it hits. Like when they took control of war related lending and started approving high risk loans. For now they are just loans like any other but if they are not repaid it will cause the collapse of banks. It pushes the problem into the future. The war is already not financially sustainable but they can keep it going a while longer depending on how willing they are to sell their future to finance the present.
9
FlyingDiscsandJams 5 days ago +44
The national railroad company is over $50B in debt (in dollars), they are gonna pay $10B this year just to cover the interest, when in 2023 they were paying just over $1B. The interest rate crisis (which China very sneakily contributed to) is killing them.
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YonatanShofty 4 days ago +2
Very interesting, what did china do to contribute to Russian interests? Are they the loaners?
2
PoGoCan 5 days ago +44
This is probably half the reason USA attacked Iran...increases oil profits for Russia There's reports Europe is running out of oil they won't have a choice on where to buy from soon
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Manustuprare 5 days ago +32
EU were never a notable consumer of oil going through the Hormuz strait. If EU faces shortages it means that the world is facing shortages. Oil is a global commodity.
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fackcurs 5 days ago +3
Well a lot of jet fuel for European airports is coming through the strait. Gasoline prices, especially diesel prices in Europe, do reflect the global commodity aspect for sure.
3
keepitfriend 5 days ago +8
Thats funny given that 86% of jet fuel in Europe comes from Norway. Gasoline? you mean from Brent Crude? Why don't you go look up where that comes from?
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MysteriousQuote4665 5 days ago +34
Which is why Europe is making deals with Iran.
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PoGoCan 5 days ago +6
Haven't read about that anywhere yet... everyone seems to be staying out of that cluster f*** for now
6
keepitfriend 5 days ago +7
Pretty much all european countries started negotiating with Iran the day after it started
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MysteriousQuote4665 5 days ago +9
Europe ain't fighting. They explicitly made that known. But individual leaders are in talks with Iran. I believe Iran is being friendly to France and Spain since they openly told Trump to shove it.
9
vertigostereo 5 days ago +5
You're overthinking.
5
Gammelpreiss 5 days ago +85
true....but fact is also that no country can run a wartime economy ad infinitum. Something will give eventually. And after 5 years of war Russia really should feel the squeeze.
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webUser_001 5 days ago +17
They said that at 3 years about the 4th year.
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psylomatika 5 days ago +21
But time has elapsed in 3 years and they are off worst now than 3 years ago. Time is money.
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lukwes1 5 days ago +46
But it has been well known that Russia had a big buffer to endure a war. But now we can see from Russian newspaper that they no longer can do cash injection for companies etc which most likely means that now they are running very low
46
GalgoIsTheBestDog 5 days ago +17
And they were right. Russia *is* feeling the squeeze. It's economy is struggling.
17
FlyingDiscsandJams 5 days ago +4
And then in year 4 we saw donkeys bringing supplies to the front lines.
4
IndividualSkill3432 5 days ago +67
Both economies have encurred enormous damage. Think of Britain after WWI and WWWII, huge problems despite winning. So its a matter of how much pain the two countries can endure before one cracks. If you look in detail at both wars, countries often got a degree of good growth in the first couple of years as full employment meant everyone had jobs and deferring things like maintenance and building new infrastructure were not a big deal. But as damage accumulated and as each of the short term tricks started to add up, the British and Germans both started to take serious economic hardship in both wars. People adjusted in parts until they cracked. Russians who are not in defence sector jobs have faced lots of inflation without the boost from the defence sector pay rises, the defence sector will feel that soon as well.
67
ShakeAndBakeThatCake 5 days ago +106
One side is literally fighting for existence and the other is fighting for a psychopath dictator. My money is on Ukraine.
106
Jamaz 5 days ago +29
Even if Russia initiated a draft now and doubled their numbers, they'd still fail to take the contested territories. They lost all their mechanized forces and the Soviet stockpile last year, whereas Ukraine has made the war impossible for infantry incursions. The Russians are already fucked, and it's now a question if they're going to be double or triple fucked.
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live-the-future 5 days ago +11
Putin has ordered a doubling of lube production in Russia
11
AverageLiberalJoe 5 days ago +7
Wow that's unusually nice of him.
7
Oh__no__not__again 5 days ago +5
Wasn't that a mix up where he ordered petroleum jelly (lube) instead of jellied petroleum (napalm)?
5
Historical_Owl_1635 5 days ago +3
It’s not that simple is the problem. I’m not saying it will happen to Ukraine, but during prolonged war endurance comes into it a lot and countries do get to the point where they’d rather just “lose” to stop the war even if that means becoming a new country.
3
Ferrymansobol 5 days ago +13
Remember, invading is the easy bit. Maintaining control? Not a cat in hells' chance.
13
Donnicton 5 days ago +35
Big difference in postwar recovery will be their allies by the end. Ukraine is already making strong partnerships with Norway and Japan wrt Ukraine's drone tech and they will be positioned to become a strategic powerhouse in Europe if and when they survive the war. Russia has China ready to put them over a barrel, North Korea, and whatever will be left of Iran.
35
Jamaz 5 days ago +22
Russia is already resigned to becoming second North Korea at this point. They just recently blocked all social media and started arresting people using VPNs.
22
live-the-future 5 days ago +4
Yeah, what a lot of people don't realize is that aside from the terrible human cost, war is always an economic disaster as well, **even for the winners**.
4
1gnominious 5 days ago +4
It can be worth it if you are able to cause minimal damage and take valuable assets. Route their army, collapse their government, profit. Simple 3 day special operation. In and out. Problem for Russia right now is the only thing they've managed to take in recent years is a few piles of rubble. They have to carpet bomb everything to drive the Ukrainians out and then try to defend the ruins. What was supposed to a simple smash and grab would have to be a complete rebuild from nothing if they want to extract any value from the land they took.
4
Lase189 5 days ago +17
Wish we had realized that fighting just brings misery for everyone. Unfortunately bigger countries still bully smaller ones all the time today and the need for more land and resources never goes away.
17
InformalYesterday760 5 days ago +37
It sounds like you're saying that Ukraine shouldn't have fought in defence, or that the West shouldn't have backed Ukraine. I hope I'm misinterpreting. Countries like Russia need to see that the imperialist age is over, and conquest outside your borders is a good way to lose your economy, and your youth. Ukraine had no choice but to defend itself - the last time Moscow controlled Ukraine tens of millions died in the Holodomor. While both countries will come out of the war battered and bruised, Ukraine will be far more likely to excel in the post war years with access to c**** capital, and the goodwill of the world behind it. They've also developed a burgeoning drone warfare program that will be exportable to many markets. I'm in aerospace, and my colleagues and I would be thrilled to do projects and work in Ukraine for a couple years. We would quit before getting sent to Russia.
37
Lase189 5 days ago +23
You misunderstood. I said bigger countries bully or as in this case even invade smaller ones for more resources. Ukraine obviously has no choice but to fight for its survival.
23
InformalYesterday760 5 days ago +21
Gotcha You were saying "Russia shouldn't have started this", not "Ukraine shouldn't have fought back". I agree. Sorry, there are a lot of Vatniks running around with their Kremlin talking points on listnook, and one I see a lot is "why did Ukraine escalate things? If they didn't fight back this all would've been over years ago, so many lives have been wasted" It's basically Russian concern trolling.
21
jellyhessman 5 days ago +3
People don't know that rationing from WW2 ending in the *60's* in Britan. The economic and infrastructureal damage is incredibly long lasting.
3
SargBjornson 5 days ago +2
I love how your Ws increase as wars go on <3
2
isthatmyex 5 days ago +30
Most of the predictions said to expect things to start getting bad on both the economic and reserve equipment fronts in 2026. No one credible was claiming anything else. And here we are in '26 and the Russians have largely drawn down their reserves and sure enough, cracks in the economy are showing. This is what was predicted.
30
JessumB 5 days ago +6
Its because people have unrealistic expectations of what a collapse looks like. Its not always a dramatic instant crash like the stock market hitting rock bottom but a slow deterioration of the overall economy over a period of time. What I do know is that there's more chatter coming from Russians themselves about the state of the economy and its struggles then I've heard at any point in time previously during Putin's ill-conceived war/special military operation. You had speakers on a recent panel in Moscow being pretty candid about the economy being the drizzling shits and how the future looks bleak overall. I don't think any of them would have felt confident speaking out like that just a few years ago so you know the problems and tension must be mounting tremendously.
6
SandySkittle 5 days ago +10
The decline isn’t a lie, but large economies typically do not grind to a halt in a short go, especially if it’s on the sugar high of a war economy.
10
thatguy9684736255 5 days ago +3
I feel like it probably would have happened until trump decided to need with things in the middle east. Now I'm not so sure. It probably depends on how much Ukraine can affect their oil industry
3
signherehereandhere 5 days ago +3
Can't have war of attrition without attrition
3
Juls7243 5 days ago +4
Its true. People just don't want to hear the truth. We apply heavy sanctions and then we need to say "this will crush russia - in about a decade". Things take a lot more time than headlines want to admit. These things are SLOW, but effective.
4
MentalDisintegrat1on 5 days ago +2
They have a war economy and they are selling oil to whoever buys it A bigger issue is how many people they are losing and the effects on their population long term. They are also getting help from China and NK.
2
FlyingDiscsandJams 5 days ago +3
China is kind of helping... but also massively screwed them on banking fees & set their interest rate crisis on fire. China & Russia fought as recently as 1967, and Russia took Siberian territory from China in that conflict. My bet is China will make a play in Siberia, either rebuilding & managing resources for Russia at a wildly advantageous rate like they do in Africa, or actually reclaim territory, depending on how crippled Russia is going forward.
3
MentalDisintegrat1on 5 days ago +2
I can see them taking land instead of the steep interest rates.
2
Enemy_Of_Everyone 5 days ago +2
All wars are generally speaking financial ventures. You can be broke ass and keep fighting not because you have the money but because you have a credit line and are borrowing like crazy (often from yourself). The ultimate question is what's your financial situation when the war ends? Even if say Russia gets the regions they want and Ukraine accepts this the costs for Russia aren't going to add up as any sort of gain in the slightest so in a way it's within their interest to keep this going to extend this credit line indefinitely just to avoid the bill that they can't pay.
2
ConcentrateDirect523 5 days ago +2
I have more faith in the resolve of the Ukrainian resistance. Having your home invaded, lands stolen, neighbors raped/murdered/kidnapped coupled with age old wounds left by the same oppressors is one hell of a motivator. Theres probably a sizable portion that would continue to resist (in a total surrender) purely out of spite, and who could blame them? Think of how long the Vietnamese fought back, despite having their country turned into craters and their forrests obliterated. Plus think about how quickly the aggressing military and public soured on the war
2
eduardonachosupremo 4 days ago +2
Nothing makes any f****** sense in world finance. It’s all just made up now. The ruling class prints money and lies and moves on.
2
Accomplished-Head449 5 days ago +679
And that's why the sanctions on Russia oil were lifted. This Administration is a bunch of f****** Putin sympathists
679
irrealewunsche 5 days ago +299
Ukraine is thankfully doing a good job of implementing its own sanctions on the export of Russian oil and gas.
299
Giant_Flapjack 5 days ago +124
Ballistic sanctions
124
Remarkable_Beach_545 5 days ago +36
Kinetic sanctions delivered at Mach f***
36
Old_Ladies 5 days ago +10
And pretty much every single day this year you see videos from another refinery or oil depot getting set on fire by Ukrainian drones. Most of those drones are pretty slow low tech drones too. Russian air defense is a joke. Like why doesn't Russia allocate more resources to defending these sites? Like Ukraine can shoot down Shahed drones with basically WW2 planes or with a dude with a gun shooting out the side of a helicopter. Like using piston engine 1970s planes and doing WW1 style aerial combat against Shahed drones with a 2 person plane with the guy in the back with either an assault rifle or shotgun to shoot down the drone.
10
JCDU 5 days ago +12
It's as if Russia hasn't got any good air defence left... The few good ones are guarding Putin's palace and probably the Kremlin.
12
Izuzu__ 5 days ago +10
The refineries and depots are often remotely located. Good in a way if you want to defend them, but also bad if you effectively need to defend all of them, at the same time, all the time. Russia is just too big to defend, far too big
10
CustomerBusiness3919 5 days ago +5
Ukraine made an extensive campaign of taking out air defenses. There have been so many videos of them. Now they are taking out the refineries unhindered.
5
In-All-Unseriousness 5 days ago +44
Helping the country that aided Iran in targeting US soldiers. Agent Krasnov at it again.
44
TaXxER 5 days ago +39
US sanctions on Russia were lifted, but only very partially (most sanctions are still in place, only some specific oil reliefs), but those of the EU were not. Frankly, the EUs sanctions on Russia are a lot more important than the US sanctions on Russia due to trade dynamics.
39
vinng86 5 days ago +24
Not to mention, Ukraine has taken out a huge number of refineries and other oil infrastructure anyway.
24
LaserGuidedPolarBear 5 days ago +5
Trump has been a Russian asset since his trip to Moscow in 1987.
5
TremendousCoisty 5 days ago +2
Which administration?
2
XStarMC 4 days ago +2
He’s doing the thing where he thinks the US is the only country
2
xX609s-hartXx 5 days ago +189
They already admitted some tiny little problems so you know things can't be good. After all they lost their Syrian ally just a couple of months ago after spending more than a decade on propping them up.
189
InformalYesterday760 5 days ago +110
Yep. Their air defence systems are also a much less enticing export item, after watching irans AD systems get absolutely hammered both last year and this year. Syrian ally is gone. Their black sea navy is effectively stuck in port against a navyless country. A large number of irreplaceable planes have been destroyed by Ukrainian drones. The VDV was decimated. It's... It's all really going quite poorly
110
Old-Buffalo-5151 5 days ago +29
Don't forget the oil infrastructure is collsaping because Ukraine is hitting stuff thats hard to replace. Russian is burning though spare parts fast  It won't be long before they can't replace the damage Ukraine is doing even with Chinese help 
29
bfhurricane 5 days ago +17
The air defenses themselves aren’t bad. There’s a reason both Ukraine and Russia haven’t been able to gain air superiority using largely the same items, at least in the beginning of the war. Even in Iran, there are close hits and at least one F15 destroyed. The real issue is US stealth tech is *far* ahead of Russian air defenses.
17
InformalYesterday760 5 days ago +22
We don't know what system was used to hit the F15, but 1 plane getting hit by a nation that was running Russia's air defence systems is a horrible indictment. For all we know it was an IR guided system, which is a different animal that the long range SAM systems that Russia is trying to sell If I'm a potential customer of Russian AD, I'm pretty horrified to see how easily the F35 just ran DEAD missions in Iran and ended up owning the skies. A lot of countries have bought F35s - hard to get excited about your new AD purchase if the likely jets it'll be looking for are curb stomping it regularly.
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Ultra_Metal 5 days ago +31
They lost Venezuela too, and now they're about to lose Iran and Cuba.
31
xParesh 5 days ago +27
I hope this is finally it. They've been allowed to have their economy survive far too long. If the economy tanks and the oligarchs lose their patience then Putin might finally find himself falling out of a window
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Limis_ 5 days ago +112
The average Russian is not aware about the reality of Putin's war. The cost of this war will put Russia into serious recession for many years.
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WorstCPANA 5 days ago +9
Which is something I'm confused about, surely with the last 4 years of hearing about economic crisis, and their economy in shambles, the average person has to be somewhat aware and concerned of economic issues? Our gas prices rose $1.50 and we're freaking out, surely there has to be high inflation due to sanctions, or Russia printing money to fund the war that the average person in russia has felt?
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freshmeat2020 5 days ago +19
Yes they are aware, their taxes are going up consistently, their young men are losing their lives, and inflation/interest rates are high constantly. Russia has been spending lots of saved up petro cash but that doesn't last forever
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Pariahb 5 days ago +8
Average russians weren't hearing about any economic problems for years, that was the western media, not the russian media that they consume. And yes, there are visible effects now in the economy, with public spending plummeting, for example.
8
vonGlick 5 days ago +3
I am guessing that part of that inflation is hidden. Don't forget that Russia was cut off from Western markets so you can't compare your salary to price of foreign goods. Prices of local goods and services goes up too but as long as your salaries go up (which they do) it seems not that bad.
3
Ill_Conversation6145 5 days ago +18
I believe the turning point of this was was Autumn 2022 when Russia pulled that convoy back from the outskirts of Kiev and chose to switch to a war of attrition. The writing has been on the wall since then, it effectively became a standoff between the Russian economy and the economies of Europe and to some extent USA. The overwhelmingly larger European economy would always outlast Russia and that is becoming more evident, especially with the upcoming approval of the EU 90bn.  Russia cannot compete with this, it's economy is too small.
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Neat_Egg_2474 5 days ago +10
I know you stated the US is a small extend of it, but it seems we are speed running whos economy could collapse faster. Ours or Russia. Sadly enough, both are self induced.
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iwasuncoolonce 4 days ago +5
The GDP of the US is over 30 trillion, The GDP of Russia is 2.5 trillion
5
Griffolion 5 days ago +36
It might be facing financial disaster, but its ability to keep limping on for as long as it needs to should not be underestimated. The economic hangover after all this will be absolutely catastrophic for Russia. But for as long as it can stay standing and continue running on the economic equivalent of adrenaline & cocaine, the war will continue.
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k-phi 5 days ago +8
Yep. More unemployed people -> more soldiers
8
Nick_Strong 5 days ago +58
No matter how poor it becomes, Russia will keep the war going because if Ukraine remains a sovereign country that can choose its own path, it would mean the end of Russian imperialist ambitions in Europe, and Russia would rather become a giant version of North Korea than let that happen. For Russia, its war against Ukraine is a fight to the death, and it will go to extreme lengths to achieve total victory.
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Griffolion 5 days ago +72
Also, this war has created a version of Ukraine on Russia's doorstep that Russia cannot abide. That's the irony of all this. All of Russia's problems, both present _and_ future are entirely of its own making. Ukraine's military industrial prowess got reawakened, and in four years they went from serious underdog to damn near a peer rival to the so-called great bear. All those bonds of shared kinship and shared culture are now gone. Russia took a largely weak, corrupt, disordered country that was sleeping on its own potential, and turned them into an absolute military monster. A monster that f****** _hates_ Russia from now until the end of time.
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JohnHazardWandering 5 days ago +28
> Ukraine's military industrial prowess got reawakened, and in four years they went from serious underdog to damn near a peer rival to the so-called great bear Ukraine was called in to protect gulf states from drones because the US couldn't do it very well. Just think about that. 
28
JasonsThoughts 5 days ago +12
> All of Russia's problems, both present and future are entirely of its own making Twas ever thus
12
wildidyll 5 days ago +2
Wow. So well said and hope it’s true. I think it is but I’m not an expert in these matters.
2
eadgar 5 days ago +41
It's a fight to the death for Putin and some of his friends, not everybody. If Putin goes then they might stop.
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POXELUS 5 days ago +7
Putin started it and his death might bring the end to it, but the fact that the war is still going means that it's not only his war anymore.
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NickZardiashvili 5 days ago +2
I don't mean to sound too optimistic here, but this is already the end of Russia's imperialist ambitions in Europe. There is no way a country that is struggling to capture small towns in a neighboring country is getting back to the point where it had the control of half of Europe.
2
Stressisnotgood 5 days ago +35
What about Trump lifting sanctions and allowing Russian oil sales?
35
No-Essay-9008 5 days ago +18
Small windfall because of output problems. They have been getting more benefit from gas pipelines. Ukraine has been attacking the oil infrastructure setting their oil tanker shipping back.
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AnyEmployment4054 5 days ago +28
Yes you see the reason for trumps actions in the headline
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ch4ppi_revived 5 days ago +6
I don't think you can run a country on oil sales. Oil alone will not make the construction worker in Russia have more money.
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fucktrance 5 days ago +8
Who they warning? we're all praying for it.
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xeiogold 5 days ago +6
Hi! Russian here. I'm working in retail. Judging from what I see in my sphere things a really bad. Inflation is high, people can't buy nice thing anymore and havo to spend less even on everyday stuff
6
Yardsale420 4 days ago +4
How convenient for them that this war in Iran has just pushed prices up. I’m sure that’s totally a coincidence.
4
ijakei2000 5 days ago +21
It helps them that the price of oil is sky high and will remain for the foreseeable future
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MilesLongthe3rd 5 days ago +33
That no longer matters as much. The Russian economy is struggling, and the state can no longer easily absorb or compensate for the enormous losses. At the same time, the war is becoming increasingly expensive. Russia has grown heavily dependent on imports from China rather than producing goods domestically, and according to Russian milbloggers, Chinese suppliers have significantly raised their prices. On top of that, signing bonuses for new soldiers have also increased sharply.
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insertnamehere65 4 days ago +2
Eh, it’s like an adrenaline shot for a 95 year old. They’ll perk up for a minute but there’s not much time left on the clock no mater what you do
2
Ultra_Metal 5 days ago +8
Putin's regime and the Islamic Republic of Iran are both under severe financial strain and their economies will break very soon. It will be a great day when both of those evil regimes can no longer start wars and oppress people.
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4862skrrt2684 5 days ago +6
I can hope, but theyve made so f****** much in oil because of Iran war (started by Trump) and sanctions removed on russian oil (By Trump)
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FreeFlyKr 5 days ago +3
Well, like Obama said in 2015, russian economy is in tatters
3
LnStrngr 5 days ago +3
We'll always have Tetris.
3
Puzzleheaded-Pen4413 5 days ago +3
Excellent news on this beautiful Monday!
3
Reddit_2_2024 5 days ago +3
Remember when the USSR was bankrupted and then it dissolved in 1991?
3
Neat_Impact_4574 4 days ago +3
“Sweden estimates that Russia would need Urals crude prices to remain above $100 per barrel throughout the year to cover its budget deficit. “. Nothing Donnie can’t handle.
3
salomo926 5 days ago +13
They say this since how many years now?
13
pecche 5 days ago +7
2 times only this week and it's monday
7
bot_surveillance 5 days ago +5
Don't worry, Trump will make sure crude oil will remain $100 per barrel for as long as possible.
5
Tugasan 5 days ago +2
nice for them that some countries lifted sensations and are buying some gas/oil
2
pepe_acct 5 days ago +2
I think they cannot sustain what is effectively Russian MIFO bills anymore and cracks are showing
2
Nyuusankininryou 5 days ago +2
Warns? I would happily report it instead and prepare a bottle of champagne! 🥂
2
Kingdarkshadow 5 days ago +2
Awesome then, keep going. The ruzzians will learn.
2
Material_Shirt_2848 5 days ago +2
Russia can tune into Saddam under sanctions Iran or North Korea and their dictator Putin and his successors will remain in power sending Russians to destroy surrounding countries out of power hunger 
2
Dyrogitory 5 days ago +2
The old, Ignore the problem and maybe nobody will notice approach. Doesn’t work, every time.
2
1SqkyKutsu 5 days ago +2
Good.... Maybe they'll finally stop their 3 day military operation.
2
Abject_Ad_14 4 days ago +2
Reap what you sow. Congratz
2
IceCoughy 4 days ago +2
A few oligarchs and few windows and they're good
2
Difficult_Bull 4 days ago +2
Man, Trump really is trying to copy Russia!
2
Dalans 4 days ago +2
> Sweden estimates that Russia would need Urals crude prices to remain above $100 per barrel throughout the year to cover its budget deficit. *Hmmmmmmmm*
2
CautiousJunket5332 4 days ago +2
The 90s are coming back, going to be fun.
2
T_J_Rain 4 days ago +2
Not to mention a generation of youth erased from the population permanently, the families torn apart, and the families that will never come to be. Whatever your side your politics, you can't disagree that the human cost is a tragedy, to be sure.
2
Complete-Sort1617 5 days ago +10
Couldn’t of happened to a nicer people.
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irrealewunsche 5 days ago +40
Couldn't have.
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Significant_Tie_2129 5 days ago +3
What is holding them from confiscating gold other precious metals, savings of people from banks?
3
live-the-future 5 days ago +5
Too much trouble, and doing that may push the people over the edge sooner rather than later. Better for Russia to just keep running the money printers non-stop. A bit of inflation (or hyperinflation) lets you take peoples' savings without actually reducing the ruble count in their accounts.
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No_Willingness9476 5 days ago +4
We're hiding our deficit' is wild to admit out loud. That's just telling everyone the number is worse than the bad number
4
live-the-future 5 days ago +3
About $30 billion worse, according to the article. That's bad for Russia but certainly not the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Russian inflation is also likely closer to 15%, not the 5% it reports. The US gov't, by comparison, spends $30 billion every 1.5 days.
3
Aggravating_Pear6221 5 days ago +3
Just collapse already ffs
3
DramaticWesley 5 days ago +4
I never thought that the U.S. would be following Russia down the rabbit hole towards collapse, but here we are.
4
Electrical-Bee-7362 5 days ago +2
That inveterate imbecile of trump just threw them a lifeline by pushing the oil price up like crazy 
2
Fluid-Scar-3015 5 days ago +3
Same c*** every week for the past 3 years. Meanwhile Ukraine is becoming the biggest test field for combat robots and I bet its not for free. THAT is scarry. Robots are being tested in combat against humans on scale.
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wrt11 5 days ago +3
We’ve been hearing about this “financial disaster” from early 2022.
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