When US President Donald Trump unveiled “tremendous” new sanctions on Russia’s two major oil firms, the aim was clear — to squeeze Moscow’s war economy and force a rethink on Ukraine. Yet history shows that external pressure rarely compels Russia to retreat. Instead, it often becomes the catalyst for reinvention.

The Russian economy today is a hybrid of Soviet-era endurance and post-Soviet capitalism. Fittingly, the State Duma meets in the former headquarters of Gosplan, the Soviet planning agency that set the five-year plans. Where commissars once issued production quotas, today’s legislators debate market regulations, tax codes, and investment incentives. This fusion of old and new is most evident in sectors forced to make rapid adjustments.

Construction and urban infrastructure are clear examples. Sanctions meant to stall investment have spurred innovation. Moscow’s crane-filled skyline reflects a construction boom now driven largely by domestic suppliers. Contractors once reliant on Western engineering and materials have shifted to local production or Asian intermediaries. What began as an emergency substitution has evolved into de facto industrial policy.

Yet, this apparent........

© Indian Express