In today’s Russia, no one knows what tomorrow may bring. Everyone must be prepared to be arrested or imprisoned at any moment, regardless of their position and rank. The country’s elites are gradually descending into survival mode: it’s every man for himself.

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.

Moscow’s approach to Moldova is to play for time and keep the country in geopolitical limbo by stoking internal divisions, stalling reforms, and fueling disenchantment with the pro-European course.