Is Russia’s Economy Finally Breaking Down?

Edition No170 | 27-06-2025 - Today we're diving deep into growing trouble inside Russia’s war economy. Kremlin officials still speak of resilience and momentum. The war machine continues to crank out lethal munitions to add to the pile of trauma and scrap metal in Ukraine. But scratch the surface, and the cracks are hard to ignore. Let’s dive in. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it’s become the most sanctioned nation on Earth. Yet, against all odds, its economy has shown a defiant resilience, based on certain metrics. According to official Russian figures, growth in 2024 outpaced all G7 nations. The economy expanded 4.3%, compared with just 1.1% in the UK and 2.8% in the US. But firstly. Official Russian bank figures have become increasingly questionable through the course of the war, and that growth is driven almost entirely by record-breaking military spending. There is the potential that this spending has also built up a huge off-books financial risk, or debt bubble. Just as the war is not politically or militarily rational, in a classical Western analysis, it turns out to neither be economically rational. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the state of the economy has been secondary to the goal of winning the war against Ukraine. That is the Kremlin's overarching priority. ---------- LINKS: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/19/russia-ramps-up-borrowing-as-oil-revenues-falter-and-war-spending-soars-a89502 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/19/russias-economy-minister-warns-of-looming-recession-a89510 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/20/sberbank-ceo-warns-high-rates-and-strong-ruble-creating-perfect-storm-for-russian-economy-a89516 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/19/foreign-investment-in-russia-falls-to-lowest-level-since-2001-un-report-says-a89512 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdr30jx6x0vo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqnj17vryjo https://kyivindependent.com/as-russian-losses-in-ukraine-hit-1-million-putin-faces-an-economic-time-bomb/ ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ -----------