by Olha Hembik | 2026-06-24

Robots tipped over. A flagship car turned out to be a relabeled import. And smoke from a Ukrainian drone strike hung over the opening ceremony. Russia's premier economic forum was supposed to showcase progress. It showcased the opposite.

The 29th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) ran from June 3 to 6, and the war it was meant to overshadow kept breaking in. Ukraine's military General Staff said its drones destroyed one tank and damaged six more on opening day, striking an oil terminal near the city. A second strike came on the closing day. The attacks delayed more than 40 flights at Pulkovo airport, knocked out mobile and internet service across the city, and sent Russia's leadership scrambling to save face.

That opening strike exposed one hard truth: Russia cannot shield strategic assets far behind the front, even during an event the Kremlin treats as a showpiece. What followed at the forum itself exposed another. Stripped of the staging, Russia had little real technology, innovation or economic strength to show the world -- only the appearance of it.

A showcase of investment risks

SPIEF billed itself as a unique business event held under President Vladimir Putin's auspices. Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov called the city the "capital of maritime and unmanned technologies" and touted its drone makers.

The timing drew ridicule.

In an article for Radio Liberty, foreign policy analyst Galina Sidorova wrote that Beglov spoke "under the buzz of Ukrainian drones that tainted the opening ceremony," while a model drone dangling from the expo ceiling "was a reminder of the burning oil terminal nearby."

"SPIEF wanted to be the Russian Davos, but it ended up being a showcase of investment risks. At the 'energy superpower' booth -- smoke. At the 'Baltic fleet' booth -- a fire alarm," entrepreneur and civic activist Vitaliy Vantsa told Kontur. The war Russia brought to Ukraine is now rebounding on Russia itself, he added.

Journalist Andriy Saichuk said on espreso.tv that the "Russian Davos" label belongs in the past. In 2019, he noted, executives from Boeing, Shell, TotalEnergies and Huawei came to deal.

"It was the big league. Everyone was interested in doing business with the Russians," he said.

That era is over.

Anton Oksentiuk, a research fellow at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council, said the forum once courted Western capital but now serves as a political stage.

"We can view the SPIEF of today as nothing more than Russia's latest attempt to paint a positive picture of itself for the outside world," he told Kontur. The goal, he said, is to swap the real economy for a flattering story about Putin's management.

The numbers officials offered matched that aim. Maxim Oreshkin, deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office, said Russia's economy grew 10% over three years against Europe's 3%, with the world's lowest unemployment. The Institute for the Study of War reported that attendees worked hard to project "economic stability," and quoted Finance Minister Anton Siluanov claiming real incomes -- earnings adjusted for inflation -- rose more than 24% in just over three years.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and Ukraine's prime minister from 2014 to 2016, said on espreso.tv that Putin dwelled mostly on BRICS, the bloc of 11 emerging economies.

"He has nothing to say about Russia. BRICS is China and India, who are key drivers of global economic development," Yatsenyuk said. Russia's share of the bloc, he added, is just 10%.

Nothing but Boris the robot

The technology on display reinforced the point. SPIEF featured humanoid robots -- football players from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, an armless robot otolaryngologist, an android dancer and machines in suits and gowns that greeted and entertained guests.

Oleksandr Ivaniuk, a Warsaw-based programmer and automation expert, said organizers clung to an outdated idea of progress.

"It's good for a kid's room but not for an international event, especially because there's still work that needs to be done on the functionality. These robots kept falling over and didn't even do what they were supposed to," he told Kontur.

A country churning out weapons to strike Ukrainian cities, he said, has no room for serious robotics: "Programming is focused on producing instruments for killing, while the only thing the Russians still have is Boris."

He meant "Boris the high-tech robot," unveiled at Russia's 2018 Proektoria forum and later exposed as a man in a costume.

The neglect shows in the budget. Russian research and development (R&D) spending has fallen to 0.97% of gross domestic product, according to HSE University data. Israel, the global leader, spends nearly six times as much, and Russia's R&D outlay trails even Egypt and Malaysia.

A Chinese Volga

The forum's marquee car made the same case. The new Volga on display turned out to be a near-clone of China's Geely Monjaro. Russian engineers enlarged the washer-fluid reservoir by a liter, added Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and tweaked the styling. The Volga sells for 4.2 million RUB (about $57,000); the Monjaro starts at 1.4 million RUB (about $19,000) in China.

Even state media noticed. Stas Vasilyev, a host on Soloviev.Live, told Russian viewers that import substitution is a sham -- a Chinese product wearing a "made in Russia" label, propping up China's economy rather than Russia's own carmakers.

Ivaniuk traced the stagnation to Western sanctions and a war that devours resources, despite the roughly 3.5 trillion RUB (about $47 billion) Moscow has poured into import substitution. The Kremlin will keep staging events like SPIEF to fake momentum, he said: "Canceling the annual Petersburg forum would be an official acknowledgment that there are catastrophic problems."