Fueling the War: How Russia’s Military Machine Continues to Profit Amid Conflict

More than two and a half years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy shows surprising resilience. Despite an unprecedented 2,000 sanctions targeting its corporations, financial institutions and elites, the nation’s factories still churn, its oil sales boom, and Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains a firm grip on power.

Why haven’t all the international penalties delivered the intended crippling blow? The answer lies in a complex interplay of geopolitics and the technicalities of enforcing sanctions on a resource-rich nation.