This week, further sanctions have been introduced by the US against Russian oligarchs and the people close to them in a move which Attorney General Merrick B. Garland termed ‘KleptoCapture.’ Some countries have now moved to seizing the property of various oligarchs.

In the commodities market, the hardest goods hit were wheat and oil. Since the invasion in Ukraine, wheat prices traded in Chicago, which serves as the international benchmark, jumped by more than 50%. This is because Russia and Ukraine account for more than 30% of the global traded wheat. Meanwhile, oil prices went above $114 a barrel.

In an analysis conducted by Paola Tamma, Douglas Busvine, and Victor Jack, the authors have aimed to disseminate Putin’s plans for the economic future of Russia. Since the invasion, RUB/USD has went down to 0.009, the Fitch and Moody’s credit rating agencies have put Russia’s debt rating to the ‘junk’ category, and the stock market has still remained closed. Guided by a prediction from Maxim Mironov, an associate professor at the IE Business School, the writers argue that Putin might have planned for his economy’s future in the form of further repressions and isolations. However, much of Russia’s economic future depends on the willingness of China to prop up its authoritarian friend. If Xi Jinping decides to stick to the benefits of the Western markets, Russia might fall onto the dark side of its USSR past.