The Russian economy is growing, very slowly granted, and at a rate of only 0.5% annually. Still, this is a lot better than the 3.7% drop they suffered in 2015 (World Bank figures….the article says 2.8%): https://www.yahoo.com/news/russias-gdp-grows-0-5-percent-q1-state-134712641.html
Not only was their economy dropping, but not surprising, they were running significant budget deficits ($21 billion in 2016, or 3% of GDP) and their cash reserves were running low (National Wealth Fund had $72.71 billion as of September 2016). Much of this decline was driven by the price of oil and secondarily, by the limited sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union (and the counter-sanctions issued by Russia). These sanctions are still in place and the price of oil is not something the Russians have control over. I don’t see the sanctions being lifted anytime soon, so Russian economic growth is dependent as the price of oil staying stable or moving up. Putin is up for re-election to his fourth term in March 2018 for a six-year term, so a stable economy would be helpful, although few doubt the outcome of the election. Growth after a recession can sometimes be strong, for example the U.S. economy grew at 2.5% in 2010 after 18 months negative growth. The Russian recovery at 0.5% is a little anemic.
The ruble is at 57 to a dollar.
The sanctions seem to be hurting the Russians. It seems they are exploring creative financial arrangements, such as barter arrangements. See the link below for a proposed Indonesian rubber for Russian Sukhoi fighters.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/05/16/russia-wants-to-barter-sukhoi-for-indonesian-rubber.html