By any normal measures, the Russian market – down 36 per cent since May – is now as cheap as a bottle of bootleg vodka. Sadly, investors are concluding Russia is not a normal country. Its choice of confrontation with the west will do little immediate harm to its economy – $1bn a day is still flowing in from exports of oil, gas and oil products. But the damage to future growth and the development of its market could be long-lasting.

Since 2000, Russia’s investment case has been about cheap assets becoming less cheap thanks to high energy receipts, which also sparked a consumer boom. Late last year, when Dmitry Medvedev emerged as the next president, investors believed the story was changing. Mr Medvedev espoused a modernising agenda of fighting corruption, establishing the rule of law and lessening reliance on energy by aggressively promoting new technologies. Russia, it seemed, might be reclassified as a more normal emerging market.