Russia can afford to wage a long war in Ukraine despite being hammered by Western sanctions aimed at crippling its ability to sustain the campaign, defense experts and economists say.
Russia¡¯s invasion has driven up the price of the oil, gas and grain it exports, providing it with a substantial windfall to fund its ¡°special military operation¡± ¡ª now entering a new phase as Moscow focuses on the eastern Donbas region after failing to break Ukraine¡¯s defense of the capital Kyiv.
As the war grinds on, rising casualties and the need to rotate fresh troops into battle may prove more pressing challenges than the financial cost.
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