NEW YORK, February 19. /TASS/. Russia possesses significant economic capabilities to continue the special military operation in Ukraine, expert at US-based investment firm Loomis Sayles told the Business Insider news portal.

"From a purely economic standpoint, Russia has considerable room to continue waging war," Hassan Malik said. The conflict predominantly takes place outside Russia, so "the direct impact on Russian productive capacity and households has been comparatively limited," the expert noted.

Western sanctions and restrictions "have undoubtedly had some marginal impact on the Russian economy, the impact is particularly limited in a largely autarkic Russian defense industry," Malik said. Resilience of the Russian economy was also backed up by measures introduced by authorities in response to restrictions, including parallel imports, alternative export markets and new supply chains.