The Russian government has impoverished the population to accumulate reserves

Since 2012, in times when commodity prices (oil, natural gas, metals, grain, etc.) have been high , the corresponding increase in Russia's income has not been used to improve Russians' purchasing power, but to accumulate external reserves. The strategic objective has therefore been to enable Russia to withstand a crisis in which its exports would fall, not to raise the country’s standard of living. The correlation between commodity prices and Russian GDP growth is zero.