Sergiu Um... Russia's economy has shrunk WAY more than 3% last year: and next year economists think it will lose another 7-10% at the very least; the Russian Stockmarket is moribund (with -35% drops in many key sector's indexes) and Russia's Consumer Price Index/PMI shows drops of up to -80% for new purchases in verticals like cars and refrigerators: which says that Russia's real economy is in free-fall....If the ruble wasn't being propped up by their central bank/could actually leave the country, now; it would immediately start trading at well above 130 to the dollar.Oh, and Ural Crude is being sold at less than $50 a barrel to India and China (!)... and this has been the worst year for Gazprom in its entire history, etc.Did I mention Germany went from importing 50% of their energy from Russia... to, 11 months later, importing none? Ostpolitik's over forever....Point being, Russia's economy -- despite its official pronouncements/stiff upper lip -- is actually on death's door... and will take decades to recover. Kind of like the CCP's Zero Covid "data": you simply can't trust a totalitarian country's self-serving cooking of the books.Ukraine -- like any country that has been suddenly attacked -- has indeed taken a hit. But they will win the war/have many friends to help rebuild. Russia, on the other hand, will have lost 30 years of progress.

Sergiu Um... Russia's economy has shrunk WAY more than 3% last year: and next year economists think it will lose another 7-10% at the very least; the Russian Stockmarket is moribund (with -35% drops in many key sector's indexes) and Russia's Consumer Price Index/PMI shows drops of up to -80% for new purchases in verticals like cars and refrigerators: which says that Russia's real economy is in free-fall....If the ruble wasn't being propped up by their central bank/could actually leave the country, now; it would immediately start trading at well above 130 to the dollar.Oh, and Ural Crude is being sold at less than $50 a barrel to India and China (!)... and this has been the worst year for Gazprom in its entire history, etc.Did I mention Germany went from importing 50% of their energy from Russia... to, 11 months later, importing none? Ostpolitik's over forever....Point being, Russia's economy -- despite its official pronouncements/stiff upper lip -- is actually on death's door... and will take decades to recover. Kind of like the CCP's Zero Covid "data": you simply can't trust a totalitarian country's self-serving cooking of the books.Ukraine -- like any country that has been suddenly attacked -- has indeed taken a hit. But they will win the war/have many friends to help rebuild. Russia, on the other hand, will have lost 30 years of progress.

user
no
assistant