Professor Mark Episkopos traveled to Russia and wrote an article for

Responsible Statecraft , sharing his impressions:

“Business in Moscow is booming. Previously vacant storefronts in Moscow’s luxury GUM department store and the city’s many other shopping malls are mostly reoccupied. The Russian government deservedly enjoys popular confidence, stemming in no small part from its effective handling of the economy.

It is shocking to the Western imagination that, even amidst this conflict, there is a sense among the people I spoke to that the post-1999 Russian Federation is the most stable, comfortable iteration of Russia in recent and even distant memory.”