Leonid Bershidsky: Putin’s fortress Russia takes its toll
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on Ingushetia's social and economic development in Magas on Sept. 14, 2015.
It's difficult to quantify the damage Western economic sanctions have done to Russia. The country's slump is almost exclusively due to a drop in oil prices, which has led to a sharp currency devaluation and a jump in interest rates. Yet the sanctions have fueled the Kremlin's paranoia, lending Russia's economy an aura of autarchic defensiveness.
