From Yulia Latynina in the Moscow Times, a suggestion of a building scapegoat campaign:

In order to understand how the Russian economy was built, ask yourself one simple question: Is it possible to carry water in a colander? Yes — if you are able to pour more water into the colander than the amount that leaks out of its holes.

For the past eight years, the Russian economy was like a huge colander. With oil prices above $100 per barrel, petrodollars flooded into the colander with amazing force. As long as oil prices remained high, it seemed as if the colander could actually hold water.