Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week, we analyze how Russia’s economic slowdown is hitting harder, with worse still on the horizon, and look at Russia selling off its gold reserves. The slowdown accelerates Russia’s economy continues to cool. In Q3, GDP growth dipped to 0.6% and in Q4 could drop into negative territory. Even defense manufacturing failed to grow, probably because it is at the limit of its physical capacity. In 2026, the economy could move into long-term stagnation.…