Watched Matt's interview/talk with the economist dude (Richard Connolly - previously of the Central and Eastern Euro studies of Uni of Birmingham). I'm glad I did.
Sum: Russian economy is doing OK, should not overestimate her, but they can keep on going with the war as it is going, and perhaps they can intensify it a bit more. Wishing that it will collapse, Ukraine just has to keep up a bit longer (or much longer) is a false hope.
A book was mentioned. It would be nice to have a copy.
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=zltqVQg8r_w
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zltqVQg8r_w [Embed]

This is all good, but it would be even better if we could see the comparisons. Ukraine is mentioned (Russia spend 7% of GDP on military, Ukraine 30% - and financed by The West), but EU and US are the major players that needs to take a look at. EU is going down the drain and has their own issues she should focus on, solve. US, I dunno. And there are some minor players, such as the UK or Iran that could worth a tale.
There are other countries which are also important (like China, or Israel), which can and do rock the boat but they are less involved in all this directly.

Anyway I think he did good when managed to set up this conversation.