While U.S. sanctions caused the Russian currency to drop sharply in November, the changing structure of trade flows means the ruble is doomed to weaken further. 

A weakening Russian economy could spell trouble for its war effort against Ukraine.

Russia’s central bank finds itself in the firing line amid sky-high interest rates and an economy that looks headed toward recession and stagflation.

A central bank digital currency could provide Russia with an alternative to the SWIFT international payment system from which it has been cut off, but the digital ruble has a long way to go before it enters mainstream circulation.

An examination of Russia’s new budget.

Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, and by Alexander Kolyandr, a financial analyst and non-resident senior scholar at the Center for European Policy Analysis, to discuss the state budget for 2025/26 and the prospects of the Russian economy in coming years.

As Russian president Vladimir Putin marks 25 years in power, spending to back his war in Ukraine is propping up the economy.

In Putin’s Russia, property rights have become casualties of war, with a precarious reliance on personal approval supplanting legal frameworks, foreshadowing potential chaos in a post-Putin era.

The authors of the article studied the exodus of Russians following the invasion of Ukraine. They also examined the challenges faced by the Central Bank as it struggles to control inflation.

The new sanctions package will be extremely painful for the Russian economy, but it’s two years too late to be a gamechanger. In a global context, however, it increases the risk of the fragmentation of the financial system.