Top Russian officials acknowledged that Western sanctions have dealt “serious blows” to Russia’s economy as Moscow continues its attack on Ukraine.
“Russia’s economy is experiencing serious blows,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN and other news outlets on Wednesday. “But there is a certain margin of safety, there is potential, there are some plans, work is underway,” he added.
Since Russia invaded its neighbor, the United States, European Union, and other countries have imposed harsh sanctions on Russia’s economy, including its Central Bank, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and its oligarchs.
Data shows that the sanctions have contributed to the ruble losing 30 percent of its value in only a few days, while the Russian stock exchange has lost some 40 percent in less than a week of fighting.
Other than sanctions, the United States, EU, the UK, Canada, and several other nations said they would deny Russia to use their respective airspaces, including for private and commercial planes. A number of Western companies, shipping firms, big tech companies, and more have said they will no longer do business inside Russia.
Cards that were issued by VTB Group, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, and Otkritie cannot use pay services operated by Apple and Google, the bank said. There were reports online of travelers using Moscow’s transit system being unable to pay with the two services, causing mass confusion this week.
The United States also pushed several Russian banks from SWIFT, a major international banking system.
During a Tuesday night address, President Joe Biden said the United States would shut down American airspace to Russia and said additional measures would be imposed to further isolate Russia and “[add] an additional squeeze on their economy.”
Russia’s Sberbank, meanwhile, said its subsidiaries in Europe had faced “an exceptional outflow of funds and a number of safety concerns regarding its employees and offices,” the group said in a statement.
Moscow has responded with emergency measures aimed at preventing an economic meltdown, including preserving its foreign currency reserves and halting the flow of cash out of the country. Russia’s stock market was also closed on Monday morning and as of Wednesday, hasn’t reopened.
U.S. sanctions and other penalties did include a carve-out that authorizes energy-related transactions with the bank. However, those penalties do not impact Russia’s gold stockpile, which Putin has been accumulating for several years.
