Russia's Elite Weigh Exit Routes as War Strains Economy and Fuel Crisis Deepens

Russian elites fear a protracted conflict as drone strikes hit oil refineries and military sites, driving a widening budget deficit and fueling talk of confiscating private savings; heightened military spending is funded by borrowing, inflation risks grow, and analysts say Moscow's centralized system is ill-prepared for a long war, with discussions of windfall taxes to ease pressure.