It was overwhelmingly about the ineptness of Russia's military Dentie and he's eminently well qualified to comment and assess that given his background and if you're in denial of that then you're as bad as Putin.
You must be getting pretty desperate to toss up a few cherry picked charts and seize on some minor (in the context of the podcast's topic) passing comment he made over their economy which is actually supported by the facts as it turns out despite the offset from energy exports-for how much longer ?
You don't think their economy is suffering and won't get much worse with the sanctions ? They're already starting to bite.
Oh yeah...the famous strong ruble line...one of Putin and his acolytes favourite talking points.
The appreciation of the ruble is an artificial reflection of unprecedented, draconian capital control—which rank among the most restrictive of any in the world. The restrictions make it effectively impossible for any Russian to legally purchase dollars or even access a majority of their dollar deposits, while artificially inflating demand through forced purchases by major exporters. The official exchange rate is misleading, anyhow, as the ruble is, unsurprisingly, trading at dramatically diminished volumes compared to before the invasion on low liquidity. By many reports, much of this erstwhile trading has migrated to unofficial ruble black markets. Even the Bank of Russia has admitted that the exchange rate is a reflection more of government policies and a blunt expression of the country’s trade balance rather than freely tradeable liquid foreign exchange markets.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/22/russia-economy-sanctions-myths-ruble-business/It is becoming more and more difficult to assess the state of the Russian economy because there are fewer and fewer official figures. Since April 2022, Russian authorities have stopped providing trade statistics. Data on exports, imports, the structure of capital outflow and the balance of payments are no longer published by the customs service and the central bank. The foreign trade numbers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are no longer accessible.
The central bank has also stopped publishing the structure of Russia’s international reserves. Since the end of March, only their total values have been updated, without detailing assets.The government has also allowed Russian companies to refrain from publishing data until the end of 2022. The central bank first permitted banks not to disclose their main financial reporting, and later allowed all financial organizations (including non-state pension funds and insurance companies) to keep management and audit data private. In March, the Russian aviation agency stopped publishing statistics on passenger traffic.The main impact of sanctions is expected to hit only in the fall and winter of this year.The official explanation for this is “to avoid incorrect estimates, speculation and discrepancies” and “to protect enterprises and specific individuals from sanctions.”
But, of course, the true purpose is to hide objective information about the deterioration of the economic situation in Russia.
It's widely known Russian authorities have stopped publishing various economic data.
https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/russia-economy-war/You and one or 2 others on here need to take your blinkers off I think.
