The tenant of the Élysée even went further, assuring that the Russian statistics “It’s propaganda, it’s a country that is no longer a democratic, free country, with an independent (statistical) institute”. According to figures from Russia’s Rosstat Statistics Agency released on Monday, Russia’s GDP contracted by 2.1% in 2022, with the economy appearing to be more resilient than expected to the impact of heavy Western sanctions after the Moscow offensive in Ukraine.