Russia Is Still Paying The Price For Annexing Crimea

Bloomberg: Russia Still Paying Price for Crimea Five Years After Annexation

Half a decade has passed since Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. For Russia, the costs continue to mount.

The accession treaty signed to bring the Black Sea territory into Moscow’s fold is still unrecognized by most countries and the U.S. and European Union led a broad effort to punish Russia with sanctions. Undeterred, Russia has kept integrating Crimea into its economy, investing billions in new power plants and building a giant bridge to the peninsula last year.

Most of the costs Russia has incurred have come from the U.S. and EU penalties, which have piled up every year since the annexation, with new ones added for alleged election meddling and other actions. But the country and its residents -- already suffering from low prices for oil, Russia’s main export -- are also feeling the pain a drop in foreign investment and stagnating incomes. A recent survey suggests the public appeal of the annexation is starting to wear off.

Here are five charts that illustrate the cost of the takeover.

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WNU Editor: Even though there has been a price to pay for the annexation of Crimea, support within Russia for Crimea to be a part of the Federation is overwhelmingly in the high ninety percentile range.

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