> plus some creative bookkeeping/regulation. The economic growth measurements are by Western institutions. Considering they're cut off from SWIFT and the most

> plus some creative bookkeeping/regulation. The economic growth measurements are by Western institutions. Considering they're cut off from SWIFT and the most sanctioned and demonized nation on earth, they're actually doing pretty well (remember, they were supposed to completely collapse like a house of cards). > CSTO¹, EEU², CIS³, etc. are a joke BRICs combined GDP is larger than the G7, and growing. Sans Russia and China, that's where the future population growth (and economic opportunities) are. > Canada, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia Brazil and Indonesia are absolutely up and coming major powers. > Aging and dying. "Demographic crisis". While still declining, their demographic situation has largely stabilized. It's better than the rest of Eastern Europe and even better than many Western European countries. > "Regular", in the sense that the launch rate collapsed by over 80% In the 1980s it was the USSR. We're talking about just Russia, a much smaller population and economy. And they launched at least 20 large payloads just last year, including a number of military sats. > Germany, France, Canada, the Netherlands Yes, you're making my point. > Their flagship needs a tugboat An old aircraft carrier is not their "flagship"; NATO ships also age out. Look into Project 22350 and Yasen class subs. Both carry Zircons and could disable a CBG. > They've built a grand total of 36 "5th-generation" combat aircraft If you're talking about the Su-57, it only went into serial production this year (2024) and their prototypes already have more air-to-air kills than the F-22 (via the R-37 which out ranges anything in NATO inventory).