Putin Envoy Warns of Economic Risks
PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: A security guard watches from the Kremlin's tower in Moscow, Russia August 26, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova/File Photo
MOSCOW, Sept. 1 — Russia risks pushing its economy into a temporary “berserk mode” if it becomes focused entirely on the needs of the military-industrial complex, one of President Vladimir Putin’s envoys said in unusually stark comments about the economic pressures of the war in Ukraine.
Boris Titov, Putin’s special representative to international organizations for achieving sustainable development goals, told Russian business outlet RBC that military and civilian economies can support one another but warned that maintaining balance is critical.
“Military and civilian economies have always existed in symbiosis everywhere. Many technical inventions that are useful for all originated within the military-industrial complex,” Titov said. “The key lies in maintaining balance.”
His comments represent a rare public expression of concern from within Kremlin circles as Russia’s slowing economy faces increasing pressure from the 4-1/2-year war.
Titov, a wealthy businessman who previously owned Russia’s leading producer of sparkling wine, formerly headed an influential business lobby and ran for president in 2018. Putin appointed him to his current international development role in 2024.
Russia shifts more resources toward war
Russia has raised taxes, redistributed property and encouraged businesses to contribute toward financing the war. More recently, authorities have threatened business owners accused of failing to do enough to protect their facilities from Ukrainian drone attacks.
War hawks and some government officials have pointed to the Soviet Union’s economic reorganization under Josef Stalin during World War Two as a model, invoking the slogan, “Everything for the front, everything for victory.”
Titov warned that such an approach can only be sustained for a limited period.
“This is not an economy at all, it's a kind of ‘berserk mode’ that can only exist for a very limited time, and the necessity of which should be considered very carefully,” he told RBC ahead of a major economic forum Putin is scheduled to attend this week in Russia’s Far East.
RBC noted that “berserk” derives from mythological Norse warriors described as entering a trance-like state that allowed them to fight ferociously while ignoring pain.
Growth slows outside military sectors
Russia’s economy is expected to expand by just 0.4% this year, while many civilian sectors are stagnating or contracting.
Ukrainian attacks on economic targets including oil refineries, online retailers and oil and grain export infrastructure could push growth even lower.
Titov’s warning follows similar remarks from Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who said last month that “killing a normal economy is equivalent to killing the whole country.”
Andrei Klepach, chief economist at Russia’s state development bank, lost his job last month after publicly highlighting economic challenges created by the war.
Russia is also preparing for parliamentary elections this month. The only political party openly calling for an end to the war has been barred from participating.
Opinion polls show growing war fatigue and increased support for a peace settlement.
That sentiment has been accompanied by persistent rumors of a large post-election military mobilization aimed at a final push to seize all of Ukraine’s Donbas region. The Kremlin has dismissed those reports as a hoax.
(Source: Reuters)
