International sanctions failed to stop the Russian economy from recovering to near prewar levels earlier this year, according to the latest statistics from the nation’s Federal State Statistics Service. Western news outlets and analysts now acknowledge it, too. Vladimir Putin is dancing on the bones of John McCain, declaring that Russia is no “gas station,” while presidential economic adviser Maxim Oreshkin insists that Europe has suffered more from its sanctions against Moscow than Russia itself. But not everything is sunshine and lollipops; millions of Russians are paying for the surge in military production as inflation reaches 7.5 percent. Amid indications of an overheating economy, a slowdown or perhaps even a recession is expected in 2024.
Western sanctions sent Russia into a recession after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but the economy has bounced back, at least…
