Beginning in 2014, Russia has been facing sanctions over its annexation of Crimea which had stunted the nation's economic growth.[7][8][9][10][11] In 2020, the COVID-19 recession[12][13][14][15] and the oil price war with Saudi Arabia also affected the Russian economy. Additional sanctions occurred in the lead-up to the invasion in 2021.[16][17] The Russian stock market declined by twenty percent during the military buildup.[18]