Russia's economy is much worse than it seems, and 'elites are increasingly alarmed' as alternate GDP gauge shows huge contraction

(Credit: Alexander NEMENOV / AFP via Getty Images)

The Swedish government has come up with some drastically different economic figures on Russia that make the Kremlin’s official data seem like a Potemkin village.

In a New York Times op-ed on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard cautioned the West against overestimating Russia and said the economy is more fragile than it appears.