Putin's War in Ukraine Fuels Income Rise for Russia

Russians are getting richer despite Western sanctions and a costly war in Ukraine, new figures suggest.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. and its allies have subjected Russia to a comprehensive set of sanctions and embargoes, intended to both hamper its military and provide the economic squeeze necessary to push Putin towards withdrawal.

However, far from crippling the country, one expert suggested to Newsweek that the war in Ukraine may have even strengthened Russia's economy.

On Monday, the World Bank released its updated report on global income levels for 2023.

Russia, along with only Palau and Bulgaria, was upgraded by economists from the "upper-middle-income" classification to the "high-income" category.

Ukraine, meanwhile, moved from lower-middle income to "upper-middle-income."

According to the authors, economic activity in Russia was "influence by a large increase in military related activity." They said that the economy was also "boosted by a rebound in trade," as well as growth in the financial and construction sectors.

Taken together, this led to an increase in both real and nominal G.D.P., as well as an 11 percent hike in the country's gross national income per capita.

Its new classification would put Russia on par with the U.S. and the other G7 nations who have been trying to handicap its economy since 2022.

However, World Bank data comes from the statistics provided by member countries, and Russia has in the past been accused of fudging figures as part of its ongoing "information war" against the West.

Philip Cunliffe is a professor of international relations at University College London, and has written extensively on the subject of Russian sanctions.

Cunliffe spoke to Newsweek about the World Bank's report and the potential dubiousness of Moscow's figures, saying: "Although economic data are always subject to revision, almost all the evidence now points to the fact that Western sanctions have been a miserable failure."

Cunliffe believes that sanctions could have even benefitted the country in some ways, telling Newsweek that Western efforts to curtail its global trade may have "actually helped to stimulate Russian industry and forced the Russian state to become more self-sufficient, to carve out new markets and establish new supply chains."

Nevertheless, sanctions and export controls targeting Russia's financial infrastructure, energy sector, and military procurement networks have continued to ramp up.

In June, the U.S. announced that it would be targeting 300 further individuals and entities accused of helping the country circumvent sanctions.

During the G7 summit, member states agreed to appropriate $300 billion worth of frozen Russian assets to provide additional capital for Ukraine's resistance efforts.

Last week, the European Union adopted its 14^th package of sanctions against the country, specifically targeting Russia's gas exports.

While Russian officials have decried these measures, they have failed to either prevent Russian re-armament, or squeeze the economy enough to make Putin change course.

Last week, a report by a U.K. think tank argued that the country has been more than able to replenish its arsenal, and that sanctions had proven "manifestly ineffective" in curtailing the Russian war machine.

One of the paper's authors, Gary Somerville, told Newsweek that defense contractors were able to bypass embargoes, using "front companies" and backchannels to sneak military components into Russia.

If correct, the new data from the World Bank adds to the evidence that Putin is able to endure Western sanctions, and that his war in Ukraine only strengthens the country's economic might.

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