I agree with all of Sergei's points. Russia is not self-sufficient. This is not caused by Russians in themselves but the leadership of the government. They were lied to - e.g. 'the rouble is strong' as Sergei is saying.

I think it's actually worse than what is being reported. The reason?: Most economies all over the world are in trouble, some sort of decline, even China's. That's because people are in debt across most Western nations or don't have the purchasing power they once had. In many Western countries, that's not very evident yet as you see on the news, people running towards discount days (Black Friday) and Christmas shopping. But, the American and Canadian dollar have been plummeting although the USA dollars has stabilized somewhat - but, much of that is probably because of the other currencies falling (IMHO).

Oil prices have been free-falling and Putin had been throwing money around (that Sochi Olympic investment looks really awful now) and Russia has been trying to save their banks - bailouts don't work. But, with doctors and teachers being laid off or losing their jobs, there is no support for ordinary Russians. Inflation is also hurting Russians so both economics and politics have been heavily mismanaged by Russia's government. Yet, they will try to spin it away from their responsibility. Not recognizing the deception is the only thing one could fault *those* particular Russians for. If I could articulate it all in Russian, it might be more receptive. Sorry, I can't. Прости.