Russia’s War Economy Is Hitting Its Limits

by foreignpolicymag

15 comments
  1. Paywall 🙁

    But, I think Russia has just gone all in, they feel they need to make as much impact before January as they can. I feel the chance of a forced ceasefire and lines fixed somehow by trump is keeping the wolves from Putin’s door, need to hold out till dawn my brave Ukrainian brothers and sisters, look to the west, the age of men is not yet over.

  2. Not quickly enough. I hope business continues to boom in a literal sense.

  3. You can’t take thousands of casualties and lose hundreds of vehicles and artillery a month in modern times and not be crippled eventually 

    2025 will be the year of reckoning 

  4. Stagnation apparently will soon (sorry, fiscal wonks wouldn’t specify *how* soon) be inevitable for ruZZia. I very much want this to be tomorrow, if not sooner.

  5. Putin sighs a huge breath of relief now that American Orban is coming to his rescue.

  6. We need to keep the boot firmly on Putin’s neck until the fucker blows. His economy is tanking, it just needs that bit more pressure and boom!

  7. Summary

    TLDR: Russia’s war economy is running out of resources, making the conflict in Ukraine unsustainable and risking future aggression for economic survival.

    The article argues that Russia’s war economy is reaching its limits, with key military resources depleting and significant production bottlenecks affecting its long-term ability to sustain the war in Ukraine. Despite resilience in economic indicators, largely due to resource exports and strategic macroeconomic management, Russia faces growing difficulties in replacing lost equipment, especially artillery barrels and tanks, with production falling far below consumption. The mobilization of labor for defense has pushed unemployment to low levels, but this defense spending is unsustainable, distorting the civilian economy, driving inflation, and crowding out other industries.

    Russia’s options post-war are limited: demobilization could cause a severe recession and potential political instability, while maintaining high defense spending would strain the economy. Alternatively, Russia might seek to sustain its military by exploiting resources through future territorial aggression or by using military threats to coerce neighboring countries.

    The authors suggest that Western leaders should recognize Russia’s limitations but remain committed to supporting Ukraine until Russia’s war economy becomes unsustainable. They warn that even if full-scale fighting ends, Russia’s oversized military may still pose security threats to Europe through future acts of aggression or coercion.

  8. I mean, they will eventually run out of oligarchs to… suddenly fall out of windows and have their assets go to Mother Russia so they can fund the war. How many are there left?

  9. Russia won’t hit its limits until the last oligarch falls out a window and hits the pavement.

  10. Can’t collapse soon enough 

    How can the Kremlin be so good at psyops misinformation, and so bad at everything else? 

Comments are closed.