A recent BBC headline, “How the West is helping Russia to fund its war on Ukraine,” published on May 30, 2025, presents a familiar narrative: Russia, reportedly awash in foreign currency from its fossil fuel sales, is using these “Western billions” to bankroll its ongoing war. The article starkly points out that “Ukraine’s Western allies have paid Russia more for its hydrocarbons than they have given Ukraine in aid,” highlighting a staggering €883bn earned by Russia since February 2022, despite sanctions.
While the sheer scale of these export revenues is undeniably jarring, and the moral implications of such purchases are deeply unsettling, the BBC’s analysis of Russia’s war funding misses a crucial economic point. The narrative that Russia needs these euros and dollars to pay its soldiers, forge tanks, or churn out shells for military use oversimplifies the fundamental realities of sovereign currency.
New Wayland
