Russia’s transport minister says sanctions have ‘broken’ logistics in the country.
Russia’s transport minister said on Saturday that international measures intended to cripple the Russian economy have “practically broken” logistics in the country, the state news agency Tass reported, in a rare acknowledgment by a Kremlin minister of the damage sanctions are doing.
In the three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and other nations have imposed severe punishments on Russia and her businesses, including closing airspace to Russian planes and cutting off banks from Western markets.
The minister, Vitaly Savelyev, said that Russian officials had been forced “to look for new logistical corridors” for moving goods, including a north-south route that would pass through Astrakhan and two ports on the Caspian Sea, Olya and Makhachkala.
Hundreds of private companies also have curtailed their business in Russia or have withdrawn from the country entirely.
@nytimes