The Projection — a symmetric watercolor butterfly

The Projection

The surface is never the system.

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state L1

Russia

Tier Dormant

Matters via second-order effects (energy, geopolitics), not as a live AI actor. Listed, not inflated.

The metrics — click any for its citations + threads

Posture high
at-war 2 src →
Capital · available high
~$720B gross FX reserves (Jun-2026) BUT ~$300-335B is FROZEN abroad — usable reserves ~$390-420B; plus a National Wealth Fund of ~$174B (drawn down to fund the war) 3 src →
Capital · operating high
~$815B annual govt expenditure / ~$774B revenue (2024) 1 src →
Capital · deployed low
gross govt debt only 17.2% of GDP (2025) ≈ ~$457B nominal (derived from GDP × ratio) — very low; the real 'deployment' is committed war spending, not sovereign debt 1 src →
Capital · in high
~$774B revenue (2024) — oil/gas hydrocarbon resource income (sanctioned/discounted, sold East) plus domestic tax 1 src →
Capital · out high
~$815B expenditure (2024); deficit -$41B (-1.87% of GDP) — war-elevated but held modest by NWF drawdown + oil income 1 src →
Optionality high
locked — sanctioned and largely cut off from Western finance: ~$300-335B of reserves immobilized, SWIFT access curtailed, capital controls in force, energy sold at a discount to a narrowed … 1 src →
Gravity high
~$2.66T GDP (nominal, IMF 2026) — mid single-state gravity; matters via energy/geopolitics second-order effects more than direct economic pull 1 src →

Projects & threads

No live threads tagged to this actor this week.

Vocabulary