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‘We expected the war to end’ How Russian political elites feel about the full-scale invasion of Ukraine dragging into 2025

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The state of the Russian economy indeed became a “point of tension” by the end of 2024, Meduza’s sources said. Big business spoke openly about its dissatisfaction with the Central Bank’s high key rate. In the words of a Russian consultant who works with both the Putin administration and big businesses: “For now, the majority [of companies] are surviving somehow, everyone is putting on a brave face. Some are even growing. But this is happening due to the cannibalization of the assets of departing foreign companies, the weak ones. But everyone understands this won’t last forever. It definitely won’t get better going forward.”

Fourth Russian Airline Plane Breaks Down Mid-Flight in 2025

A UTair flight from Moscow to Dubai had to make an emergency landing back at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Saturday, Jan. 11.

A UTair flight from Moscow to Dubai had to make an emergency landing back at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Saturday, Jan. 11, The Moscow Times reported. It marks the fourth incident of a Russian airline plane breaking down since the start of 2025—and the second for UTair in just a week.

UTair stated that the emergency return was caused by “a change in the level of hydraulic fluid.” The plane, carrying 240 passengers, turned back near Baku and landed safely in Moscow.

Russia’s Hidden War Debt
Moscow has been stealthily funding much of its war costs with risky, off-budget financing overlooked by the West. That funding is now under pressure, offering new leverage to Ukraine and its allies.

Moscow has been stealthily pursuing a dual-track strategy to fund its mounting war costs. One track consists of the highly scrutinized defense budget, which analysts have routinely deemed “surprisingly resilient.” The second track—largely overlooked until now—consists of a low-profile, off-budget financing scheme that appears equal in size to the defense budget. Under legislation enacted on the second day of the full-scale invasion, the Kremlin has been compelling Russian banks to extend preferential loans to war-related businesses on terms set by the state. Since mid-2022, this off-budget financing scheme has helped drive an unprecedented $415 billion surge in overall corporate borrowing.