🇷🇺🪙 Putin has now sold 71% of Russia's gold reserves. When those are gone, there is nothing left to fund his war.

Russia's GDP growth for 2026 is projected at 0.4%. Half of all civilian industrial sectors are now in decline. The war is running $28 billion over budget. It is projected to overspend by a further $54 billion in 2027 and 2028.

The territory Russia is acquiring works out at $90 million per square mile. $90 million per square mile of a country it was supposed to consume in days.

And then there is the labour shortage. Close to half a million soldiers killed. Hundreds of thousands wounded. Hundreds of thousands of working-age men who left after mobilisation and never returned. Factory workers and delivery drivers choosing frontline service over civilian jobs because war wages are higher.

You can adjust interest rates. You can print money. You cannot conjure back a missing generation of workers.

The question is not whether this is sustainable. It isn't. The question is what breaks first — and how badly.