Why Putin has plunged Russia’s economy into ‘the death zone’
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Moscow may have hit Ukraine with one of its biggest attacks of the war so far - but is it Russia’s economy that’s starting to crack?
Businesses are closing while bills and taxes are on the rise – as the growing cost of the conflict is felt on the high street and in homes as much as the battlefield.
With his hometown under attack from Ukrainian drones, what does Vladimir Putin fear most - losses on the frontline, unrest over the struggling economy, or the possibility both could combine to threaten his control?
Sky’s Ivor Bennett sends a snapshot from St Petersburg, while Niall Paterson is joined by our military analyst Professor Michael Clarke.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show – why@sky.uk
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:09.8 | The war with Ukraine is finally having an effect on Russia's economy and perhaps fatally. |
| 0:17.5 | This is why. |
| 0:22.0 | Commuting from work? |
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| 1:27.2 | The Ukraine war has now been going for more than four years. |
| 1:31.0 | And for almost all of that time, people have been predicting that the Russian economy would |
| 1:35.4 | collapse, which of course it hasn't. |
| 1:38.2 | But we are now seeing signs that it's getting awfully tricky for Vladimir Putin. The view of one expert. |
| 1:45.0 | Russian economy is like a climber who's stuck above 8,000 meters. |
| 1:51.0 | It is the attitude which mountaineer is called a death zone. |
| 1:54.0 | At this height, the human body cannot survive for long. |
... |
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