Photos: Scenes of Russia's economy since war in Ukraine
Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. Economic life for everyday Russians hasn’t changed that much, with familiar imported goods either still available or replaced by local knockoffs. There’s no mass unemployment, shuttered banks or other signs of crisis. But President Vladimir Putin’s fortress economy faces an even tougher test in the months ahead. New sanctions are finally targeting the full scale of the Kremlin’s biggest moneymaker: oil exports. Some economists think that could mean a breaking point for government finances this year. And while the Kremlin may not run out of cash, it faces long-term stagnation without outside investment or Western technology. Here are scenes from Russia's economy since the war began.
FILE - People are seen through a window inside a restaurant at Patriarshiye Prudy with the word on the wall reads "Patriki" which means Patriarch's Ponds, a hip restaurants and bars district in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 10, 2023. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. Economic life for everyday Russians hasn't changed that much, with familiar imported goods either still available or replaced by local knockoffs. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - The tanker Sun Arrows loads its cargo of liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project in the port of Prigorodnoye, Russia, on Oct. 29, 2021. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 27, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022, one of the largest facilities for oil and petroleum products in southern Russia. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian state-run Sberbank headquarters in downtown Moscow, Russia on July 29, 2014. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - People line up to visit a newly opened restaurant in a former McDonald's outlet in Bolshaya Bronnaya Street in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 25, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - People wait in a line to pay for her purchases at the IKEA store on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on March 3, 2022. Furniture and home goods remaining after IKEA exited Russia are being sold off on the Yandex website. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 22, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (Sergey Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, second left, accompanied by Russian Presidential Envoy to Ural Federal District Vladimir Yakushev, left, visits the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2022. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP, File)
A view of the Audi Center Altufievo one of 36 dealerships of Avtodom in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia. Foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices, said Andrei Olkhovsky, CEO of Avtodom, which has 36 dealerships in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
People walk past a Sviaznoy mobile phone shop in a shopping mall in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. Apple has stopped selling products in Russia, but Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, offers the iPhone 14 for about the same price as in Europe. Online retailer Svaznoy lists Apple AirPods Pro. (AP Photo)
FILE - Few visitors pass inside the GUM department store with lots of boutiques closed due to sanctions in Moscow, Russia, on June 1, 2022. U.S. officials say Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world. But as the war nears its one-year mark, it's clear the sanctions didn't pack the instantaneous punch that many had hoped. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
New made "Moskvich" cars are seen at the assembly shop of Moscow Automobile Plant "Moskvich" with the banner reads: "Moskvich (Muscovite) returns" in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Russia launched production of the Moskvich car brand at a plant near Moscow given up by the French carmaker Renault, with a new, modern Chinese design that barely resembles the Soviet-era classic. (Kirill Zykov, Moscow News Agency via AP)
FILE - Employees of the Almaz-Antey Corporation's Obukhov Plant work at its assembly shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Jan. 18, 2023. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. The boon helped bolster the ruble after a temporary post-invasion crash and provided cash for government spending on pensions, salaries and — above all — the military. (Ilya Pitalev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
A view of the Dealership Mercedes-Benz "Avilon" in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 11, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia, but foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
FILE - Newly built nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, third of five icebreakers of Project 22220, begins its passage from the Baltiysky Shipyard to the northern city of Murmansk, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 23, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
FILE - A logo of a newly opened Stars Coffee in the former location of a Starbucks in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 24, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - New vehicles Gazelle are parked in the territory of the Gorky Automobile plant (GAZ), one of the main budget-forming enterprises in the region in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - People line up to enter an H&M shop and buy items on sale in the Aviapark shopping mall in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 9, 2022. Russians are snapping up While 191 foreign companies have left Russia and 1,169 are working to do so, some 1,223 are staying and 496 are taking a wait-and-see approach, according to a database compiled by the Kyiv School of Economics. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Men walk at the Nokian Tyres tire manufacturing plant in Vsevolozhsk, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 29, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
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