Despite the fact that oil-rich Russia is now in a recession, Putin’s plan aims to spend 22 trillion rubles (over $400 billion) through 2020 to give the armed forces dozens of navy ships, hundreds of new planes and missiles and thousands of tanks and other weapons.
Coupled with plummeting prices for oil, Western sanctions helped drive the nation’s economy into recession, resulting in a drop in incomes for the first time since Putin took helm in 2000.
Many observers attribute the solid support for Putin to blanket positive coverage of his activities by state television stations and other Kremlin-controlled media that have …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
