Worldcrunch
Since the end of the 20th century, the idea has spread that there’s a fundamental link between energy prices and Moscow’s ability to carry out military aggression. After all, low energy prices were one of the factors behind the economic collapse of the USSR.
The continuing heavy shelling of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities shows that Russia still has more missiles than Ukrainians would have hoped. The look through the web of Kremlin diktats and murky international commerce that keeps the Russian military churning out hardware that drives the war in Ukraine
Siberia provided 76% of Russian exports. And taxes on its mined resources account for over half the federal budget. As tension grows at the Ukraine border, some in Siberia want more control.