Russia’s low-cost war can endure Western sanctions

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• But calculations about the surprisingly modest operational costs that the world’s 11th largest economy is incurring in its war make clear that sanctions are highly unlikely to hit Russia hard enough, or quickly enough, to affect the fighting in Ukraine.

• While Ukraine fights for its life, for a deeply invested President Vladimir Putin, too, the stakes are high. Under Putin, Russia has become a neo-Prussia, massively prioritizing its military in terms of spending and status. Battlefield failure would represent severe humiliation.

• However, there is virtually zero likelihood that Western countermoves, unleashed in the spheres of finance, commerce and diplomacy, can halt near-term Russian military operations.

• Yet the country’s key industries are energy and armaments, meaning its troops can get munitions, arms and fuel from domestic sources.

• Yet Russia looks prepared to pay a heavy-as-necessary price for victory given that during two decades under the rule of Putin, the nation has embraced all things macho and martial.

• During Putin’s term, his country has invested heavily in World War II memorials, while its filmmakers have produced a spate of films set during that struggle.