ua en ru

Russia’s economy in deep trouble, Ukrainian analyst says

Russia’s economy in deep trouble, Ukrainian analyst says Illustrative photo: The expert said that Russia has a complicated and strange economic situation (Getty Images)
Author: Liliana Oleniak

By September or October, Russia may have to scale back its offensive. The summer campaign will be Moscow's last chance for a breakthrough, military expert Mykhailo Samus tells RBC-Ukraine.

As Samus noted, no one is willing to make loud statements today, but many argue that Russia will scale back its offensive by October and begin to adapt to winter. After the summer campaign, Russia will only face a positional and tactical struggle.

The expert also added that the current situation with the Russian economy is complicated and strange.

"They’re (Russians - ed.) in a very difficult, even bizarre, situation. The dollar is under 80 rubles, oil is at $50. Multiply those numbers, and you get a deficit - some strange imbalance. I get the impression that their old-guard officials are just converting everything into foreign currency. They're artificially deflating the dollar rate, which kills exports, but they’re moving forward with military projects, converting everything into foreign currency, and waiting for the collapse to come in the fall," Samus explained.

According to the expert, in the fall, Russia will be ready for a ceasefire and the lifting of sanctions restrictions.

Sanctions against Russia

During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the West is actively imposing sanctions. Russia has been restricted from accessing financial markets, banned from exporting high-tech products, had frozen assets, and imposed restrictions on banks, companies, and thousands of individuals.

Special attention is also paid to the energy sector - the European Union is gradually abandoning Russian energy supplies and limiting the price of oil.

On May 20, the EU adopted the 17th package of sanctions against Russia and has already begun work on new restrictions.