Russia struggles,Behind the facade

In the minds of many, Russia is the epitome of strength. Its robust image rests in part on the shoulders of the nation's assertive-if-largely-expressionless leader Vladimir Putin and the fact that the country's armed forces are now involved on multiple fronts in other parts of the world.

A huge share of the nation's income is devoted to making sure that Russia's military fights effectively. The government allocated $70bn to military spending last year - representing an increase of 87% over the past 10 years. Last month, state media proudly proclaimed that Russia had "taken third place in the world for spending on armaments".

Pictures of RAF Typhoons intercepting Tupolev 'Blackjack' bombers near Britain's territorial airspace and breathy news reports about Russia's (only) aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, chugging its way through the English Channel serve only to embellish the facade.

But the truth is, Russia is relatively weak. It is a country with 2% of the world's GDP that acts like it has 22%. In fact, its economy is only slightly bigger than Canada's - but it is difficult to imagine Justin Trudeau sending troops and fighter jets to Syria to prop up Bashar al-Assad.

Still, do not take my word for it - take a look at what analyst and Russia expert Paul Goble comes up with almost every day. His Window of Eurasia blog scours the Russian newspapers for real-life stories from across the nation.

I have selected a range of economy-related material from a week or so ago:

Experts say real poverty in Russia is two times higher than government estimates with more than half of workers receiving starvation wages.

Losses from financial crimes in 2016 were the biggest ever recorded while capital flight - or private money leaving the country - doubled from the first quarter of 2016 to the first three months of 2017.

One commentator offers advice on how to make money and stay alive when thugs and corrupt officials try to steal your business while another argues that corruption is so deeply embedded in Russia that people barely notice it anymore.

Meanwhile, one hospital is closing every day and other medical facilities are being cut back at nearly the same rate while Russian doctors are now paid less than Russian fast food workers.

Here's one story from Mr Goble's list that caught my eye. A regional hospital in the state of Altai asked local residents to help feed its patients by asking for donations of potatoes and other food stuffs.

"The hospital canteen requires fresh potatoes, beets, carrots and various vegetable pickles," barked an ad on the front page of the local newspaper. "Do not stay indifferent to the general problem!"

Clearly, the Russian economy is struggling - a toxic combination of western sanctions, low oil prices and bad government continue to take their toll. It may not come as a surprise then, when I tell you that the Russian Treasury has announced plans to slash the country's defence budget by 25.5% this year - the largest cut to military expenditure in the country since the early 1990s.

Still, that sort of thing is not particularly good for the country's image and I am not expecting Mr Putin and friends mention it anytime soon.