> It's true, the inflation is high, but nowhere near out of control.

I'm not sure how useful that exchange-rate data is when the Russian government has made it harder to for their people to actually trade away rubles even at a price they like. [0]

I'd also expand the time window: The Jan-2022 ruble had already taken geopolitical damage, because of how Russia attacked Ukraine using insignia-less forces in 2014. In contrast, a 2012 ruble was more like $0.30.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/russia-capital...

Well sure, but weren't we discussing the effect of the 'devastating' EU sanctions? If you want to expand the timeframe all the way back to 2012, then the conclusion must be that the effect of the sanctions on Russian policy has been even smaller .. After all, it didn't stop them from first annexating the Crimea in 2014 and next trying to annexate Ukraine completely in 2022.