The Economics Behind Russia’s War | Andrei Illarionov

Years of sanctions and Ukrainian strikes on refineries inside Russia have put pressure on its economy. Yet Russia remains able to keep fighting. What actually sets the limit on how long it can sustain this war?

Paying for a war and producing for it are separate requirements, and assessing one does not settle the other. The war’s duration also matters for Europe’s funding commitments to Ukraine, and refinery damage puts pressure on fuel supplies and prices inside Russia.

Andrei Illarionov, former chief economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior analyst for Russian and European affairs at the Center for Security Policy, examines the money available to fund the war.

Pavel Luzin, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation who studies Russia’s defense industry, looks at its production capacity and what refinery strikes could affect outside the fuel market.

Views expressed in this video are the opinions of the host and the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.