the thing i find the most nutty about russia is that access to energy is usually king among a country's concerns. russia is an energy exporter and yet their own industrial output is a joke compared to all of its neighbors who have to import energy. i would love to see an autopsy on why russia is such an economically and technologically run down dinosaur even though they once had a massive manufacturing base and have access to all the energy they could hypothetically need. the best in a nutshell guess i've heard is because corruption is baked into russia's culture, from the highest official embezzling from the people to the pettiest laborer stealing from his job site.
United States