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A better (and more accurate) comparison is that Russia has a lower GDP than Italy: https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/russia/italy.

Giving you the benefit of the doubt: you've conflated the Russian yearly budget with Maryland's GDP. Russian GDP of 2 Trillion would be the second in the US, between California and Texas

corrected. thx

> Its a declining regional power

It's a declining global power, but a rising regional power. It's nowhere what it was in the soviet days, but it certainly has been growing since the post 90s collapse.

> with a GDP the size of Texas [1,2]

That's only on a nominal basis, but on a PPP basis, they are the 6th largest economy in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

> but a rising regional power.

It's not rising in any sense.

Crimea?

That example is like the United States losing all of California, but taking back its Navy base in San Diego.