Russian Economic Optimism Is Based on Suspect Data

In the early weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and European allies rolled out wave upon wave of economic sanctions.

As part of Moscow’s response, the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (known as Rosstat) and other government agencies halted publication of many economic statistics. Regular reports on imports and exports, debt, monthly oil production, banking, airline and airport passenger volumes, and so on, simply disappeared.