About this episode

The episode analyzes the current state of Russia's war economy and its implications amidst ongoing conflicts and international relations.

Russia's war economy is running out of road. Ukrainian drone strikes have knocked out roughly a third of Russia's oil refining capacity, forcing an energy superpower to ration petrol at home and import gasoline from India — while Crimea sits under a state of emergency with the air-raid sirens switched off so the tourists aren't disturbed. In this video we look at what the numbers actually say: a contracting economy despite record military spending, a National Wealth Fund down from 6.5% of GDP to 1.8%, a first-quarter budget deficit that blew through the entire year's target in ninety days, and a banking system quietly commandeered to keep the tank factories running. We look at how China has turned the "no limits" partnership into a very one-sided arrangement, why Europe's largest rearmament since the Cold War sent defence stocks down, whether Europe actually needs expensive American fighter jets or is simply paying tribute to Washington — and what the Russian endgame realistically looks like, according to a Russian billionaire who is not a dissident. Featuring the Kiel Institute's "Endgame" report, Tucker Carlson's demon, and the parade Vladimir Putin had to…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Boyle

Topics covered

• Russia's war economy
• Ukrainian drone strikes
• energy crisis
• military spending
• economic contraction
• China-Russia relations
• European defense

Keywords

• Russia
• Ukraine
• war economy
• oil refining
• military spending
• economic figures
• Kiel Institute
• defense stocks
• China
• European defense

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kiel Institute, India

Books & works: Endgame: Russia’s war economy hits its limits

Places: Russia, Ukraine, Crimea

More episodes of Patrick Boyle On Finance

• The World's Best Stock Market Is Also Crashing! · July 19, 2026 · 37 min
• The Real Reason European Cars Can't Compete · July 5, 2026 · 26 min
• Brexit, 10 Years On: What It Actually Cost Britain · June 28, 2026 · 37 min
• How to Lose a Global AI Monopoly in One Afternoon · June 21, 2026 · 28 min
• What SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI’s IPOs mean for investors · June 14, 2026 · 39 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Patrick Boyle On Finance podcast page.