Read Part 2 here (civil war, Ukraine, new arms race).

Russia’s economy is going the way of suicide and the most obvious model of the Russian state in the near future is based on the rule of criminality. The country is walking into a period of darkness that would last till the end of this century, according to an economist and scholar who was a designer of Russian economic reforms in the 1990s. 

More to read: 
[video] Former US president Richard Nixon knew Russia could start a new war

On sanctions’ impact

Speaking in an interview for the Popular Politics, an independent YouTube channel, Igor Lipsits, doctor of economics, author, and a co-founder of the Higher Economic School in Moscow, says the main reason for his pessimistic outlook is the fact that the country no longer generates added value – because of the war and economic sanctions. 

“Russian economy is stalling. Industrial output stopped growing seven months ago. Military multiplicator or defense orders helped it grow until last June but civilian development degrades,” the scholar said.

Redistribution of existing assets seems one of the two options for Vladimir Putin’s regime to buy the loyalty of the new Russian nobility – so-called “siloviki” (senior military and security chiefs) and “chinovniki” (senior and middle administrative apparatus).