I'm a fan of your writing, Dylan, but I think that you're being unfair in this case.

Russian industry has been falling apart for all of its history. With this background, its difficult to tell if the what is happening now is anything more than System Normal, All Fucked Up.

The fact is that Russia has moved to a war economy. The are getting what they need from oil sales and from China.

In the long run, Russia is screwed. The cold war is back and it will last for decades unless there is massive change in Russia (unlikely).

The point of this article, as I read it, is that while Russia may be screwed in the long run, they are doing better than many people anticipated in the short run (the next few years).