Russian economist fired after saying Russia won't win Ukraine war

Andrei Klepach, the chief economist at Russia's VEB.RF state bank, has been dismissed from his position after publicly stating that Russia would not win its "war of attrition" against Ukraine.

Klepach's termination, reported to have occurred on Sunday, August 16, stems from remarks he made in May during a meeting at the Moscow Exchange. He asserted that Russia was losing both technological and economic competition, not only to China and the United States but also, to some extent, to Ukraine. He acknowledged Ukraine's economic destruction and catastrophic demographics but noted its survival with significant financial support, which, combined with Russia's own military and other expenditures, constituted about 50% of Russia's budget.

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More importantly, as I said, we are losing not only to China and the USA, but to some extent to Ukraine as well. The Ukrainian economy, of course, is destroyed to some extent, and the demographic situation is catastrophic. But, once again, the Ukrainian economy is surviving despite all odds. Of course, there is huge financial support (...) With such support for military spending and its own expenses, this is about 50% of our budget.

According to sources cited by The Bell, VEB Chairman Igor Shuvalov dismissed Klepach following a "phone call from above." A second source corroborated that the firing was directly linked to Klepach's statements. Klepach had served as chief economist at VEB.RF for 12 years and previously held positions within Russia's Ministry of Economic Development for a decade, including deputy minister from 2008 to 2014.

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In this war of attrition, Russia will not win the competition.