[hinckley buzzard]

Not sure how “weakened” Russia is. The ruble is steady well below the 100/dollar benchmark, and the GDP is growing about 5% recently. China has helped them but remember, much of the rest of world doesn’t much care about this Western war, and have few scruples about doing business with Russia. The image of Russia as a weak feeble country propped up by China is a media fiction.

[adorno]

Not sure how “weakened” Russia is.

Russia's economy has always been weak. The Russian economy today is a big higher, but only because of the war-time status, where they're selling oil at a higher price, which is a boost. However, most (if not all) of the boost is being used for war purposes, which leaves the Russian people still very poor.

Russia was known as a world-power, but only because of its huge military and its nuclear weapons. When it comes to the economy, Russia was NEVER a world power, and still isn't. In fact, there are at least 10 other economies in he world that are much larger than Russia's. Russia is still a third-world economy, wartime or not. Were it not for China's help, Russia would be a completely ruined economy by now, and would have had to stop the invasion.