Last month, the Russian government released a draft of the proposed 2026–2028 federal budget, which purports to show the near-term priorities of President Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Milov, a Russian opposition politician who left Russia after Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has released a pessimistic assessment of the former KGB lieutenant colonel’s chances of being able to continue to bankroll his war in Ukraine.

In his latest report for the Foundation, he projects rough times ahead for Moscow due to a series of unfavorable trends.

According to his analysis, Russia’s budgetary situation is anything but “normal.”

  • Rose56@lemmy.zip
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    3 hours ago

    Might, exactly! But there is China and North Korea who can fund Russia too.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    5 hours ago

    I’ve been hearing this for years now, and predictably, nothing happened.

    What’s different this time?

    And how trustworthy is this source? I’ve seen many a blog like this one that is just sponsored messages from state X wanting to make state Y look bad

    • worhui@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      the price of oil is low and Russian refineries can’t refine and deliver vast amounts of oil due to attacks.

      Though Russia has in the past found effective ways to get around what would have truly been crippling financial situations. They have been very resourceful in the past. It just gets harder and harder each time . They are just in a worse situation in all ways year on year.

      This time they will get past it, but they are getting depleted. I just don’t see them ending the war until the choice is out their hands.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Media has fallen off a cliff in the last few years. Nobody but some of the older, more respected institutions do anything but publish rage-bait, pandering nonsense and clickbait headlines and filler stories meant to get grabbed by algorithms in content aggregation social media sites so they get traffic. It’s doing all of us a lot of harm being fed just the shit we want to hear, it’s literally why we have people arguing about the shape of the Earth right now.

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 hours ago

    Money is fictional anyways. If they want to, Moscow can print literally arbitrary amounts of Rubels. There’s no way they’re gonna bankrupt.

    What could be interesting, however, is see how the economic situation unfolds for everyday people.

    • arendjr@programming.dev
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      1 hour ago

      If I’m not mistaken, their inflation and interest rates are already crazy high, nearing 20%. Yes, they can print even more money, but it won’t give them more resources from abroad, and they’re already nearing the point where they might spiral into hyperinflation.

  • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    In the end does it matter?

    Xi seems willing to prop up Russia indefinitely and the west isn’t willing to dump China, so it doesn’t really matter if some Russian banks fall, since the regime will keep getting infinite money.

    • worhui@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I haven’t seen that same willingness. China is willing to profit from Russia and wants a non-western aligned source of raw materials.

      They seem to be giving just enough support to stop Russia from collapsing.

      It’s possible for china to give Russia enough aid to basically cause Ukraine to capitulate. I just haven’t seen much to indicate anything near that support.

    • reksas@sopuli.xyz
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      8 hours ago

      Oh joy, china will effectively own russia at some point without having to even have a conflict for it. I really dont want china as neighbour.

      • krooklochurm@lemmy.ca
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        7 hours ago

        This is a smart and more humane way of becoming the world’s leading superpower than war.

        I’m under no illusions about china being benevolent or perfect but given the way things are going in the west I’m not sure I believe anymore that china rising to increasing prominence in the world stage is necessarily a bad thing.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        It’s a catch 22 for Putin. If he quits the war now, he will face domestic coup because it showed how weak he is. If he continues the war longer, it will jeopardise the entire future of the Russian country even further.

        • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          19 minutes ago

          I hope Putin’s Russia just implodes as the people who’ve been stuck under him can have a government that actually respects them.

          Preferably with like a implosion of the Kremlin.

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      I, too, am tired of these “any minute now” nonsense about Russia’s potential fall. The problem with people is the craving for instant gratification and results. We’re so pathetic in that regard.

      People with longer optics will say that Putinist Russia will fall, but it will be at any time in the coming years. It’s always a slow burn just like US decline since Iraq and Afgan war. Imperialist escapades will always have negative consequences to the imperialist state which reverberate across time. The only winner coming out of both US and Russian declines is China. Maybe India and Brazil will benefit from this as well. Perhaps Europe as well if Europe could decouple from the US in due time.

  • Retiredtoflorida@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Bull. They have been laundering oil through India for a while. And while that loophole may close, every other asian country is waiting in line to be the supplier of refined product to Europe using Russian oil. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-refiners-review-russian-oil-contracts-after-us-sanctions-source-says-2025-10-23/

    Also, I know a Russian immigrant who regularly travels back there to visit her family. She flies through turkey with a suitcase full of money and western goods without any problems. Money is flowing into Russian like a river.

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    21 hours ago

    They still have a huge ransomware industry. Presumably the state will squeeze the cybercrime gangs to take more and funnel all the takings to the great patriotic war rather than buying lambos.