By Ben Aris in Berlin The Russian economy experienced a sharp contraction of 4.4% following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering fears of a financial crisis as households rushed to withdraw cash and the ruble plummeted over 40% in value. The crisis didn’t happen. A swift policy response by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and Ministry of Finance (MinFin), including a massive interest rate hike to 20% and the rapid introduction of capital controls in the first week of the war, stabilised financial markets, shored up the tanking ruble and sparked economic recovery within a few mo…