Russia's economy beginning to collapse due to war and sanctions - WSJ

That's according to The Wall Street Journal, Ukrinform reports.

According to the news outlet, Russia's government revenue is being squeezed and its economy has shifted to a lower-growth trajectory, likely for the long term.

Russia's biggest exports, gas and oil, have lost major customers. Government finances are strained. The ruble is down over 20% since November against the dollar.

In addition, the labor force has shrunk as young people are sent to the front or flee the country over fears of being drafted. Uncertainty has curbed business investment.

"Russia's economy is entering a long-term regression," predicted Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian Central Bank official who left the country shortly after the invasion.

While there is no sign the economic difficulties are bad enough to pose a short-term threat to Russia's ability to wage war, state revenue shortfalls suggest an intensifying dilemma over how to reconcile ballooning military expenditures with the subsidies and social spending that have helped President Vladimir Putin shield civilians from hardship.

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska warned this month that Russia is running out of cash. "There will be no money next year, we need foreign investors," the raw-materials magnate said.

Having largely lost its European market next door, and with other Western investors pulling out, Moscow is becoming ever more reliant on China, threatening to realize long-simmering fears in Moscow of becoming an economic colony of its dominant southern neighbor.