2014 started off as a triumphant year for russian president Vladimir Putin. He extended his rift into ukraine, and thumbed his nose at the west while doing it. But thanks to sanctions and sliding oil prices 2015 is already looking to be a year of Economic Hardship for russia. It should be a growing disenchantment. Today hundreds of protesters streamed into red square. They came out to protest a Russian Court sentencing of alex sigh navalny. Well have more on that in a moment. But first speaking of money, putins financial problems are only mounting. Rur sh Russian Companies are cut off from western credit. As a result companies now face Serious Problems services more than 550 billion of russian corporate debt. They cant access western banks, so when they have to refinance, they have got to figure out new ways of doing so. Meanwhile Falling Oil Prices are cutting into russias state budget and fuelling a currency crisis. Russias central bank estimates 128 billion was moved out of the country by worried investors in 2014. Thats nearly 2. 5 times the amount that left the country in 2013. Vladimir putin has responded by looking more inward and pivoting russia east towards asia. He has urged Russian Companies to rely more on russias domestic market for growth. So far thats not enough to head off a recession that officials now say could shrink the economy by 4 in 2015. And with Living Standards falling for ordinary russians growing Economic Uncertainty on the horizon, more people may be willing to question or challenge putin and his policies. In a country like russia that inevitably means more repression. We have this report from peter sharpe. Reporter Aleksei Navalny arrived with prosecutors calling for a tenyear term. Instead he and his brother were sentenced to three and a half years, be alexei receiving a suspended sentence. His supports claim the trial is another attempt by the kremlin to curb decent in russia. And it will certainly remove one of the most effective opposition campaigners from the political stage while deriving him of a long jail term that would just increase his popularity. Alex navalny is for men the credible face of opposition. He has been one of the most vocal opponents of Vladimir Putin, famous for calling the ruling party a bunch of crooks and thieves. But then he was placed under house arrest. Throughout his trial he has remained defiant. Translator this hunter which has laid their hands on everything in russia and is building resources based futile capitalism will sooner or later fall. Navalny blames the political establishment for trying to silence him. In just a few years this young anticorruption blogger has become one of the Biggest Challenges to president putins grip on power. He is the man the kremlin fears the most the place of political opposition to president putin across russia. The kremlin will be opening the suspended sentence instead of the ten years in jail that the prosecution was looking for will help diffuse the planned mass protest by his supporters. The rubles dramatic decline threatens to plunge russia into a fullscale economic crisis and no one is to blame but Vladimir Putin himself thats according to an oped in the New York Times written by experts from the rand corporation. Olga is the director of rand center for russia and eurasia. And she joins me now. You may be right, except there are a lot of people on the ground in russia maybe its because of National Sentiment or because of the things they read in the newspaper or see on tv who do not hold Vladimir Putin responsible for this massive economic downturn and the shunning of the world that russia is experiencing. Thats absolutely true. I think that the narrative in russia continues to be that somehow the United States is causing all of this and its barack obama fault. How does that happen in 2014 going into 2015. Russia is a place with the internet. People in countries with controlled media do seem to understand that there is free media around the world. How does this persist . Is nationalism something that feed feeds into this. Absolutely. I think you find everywhere people find the news they like. Its very easy in the United States to use social media, to filter your sources of information until you are only seeing things that you agree with. So one of the reasons that the kremlin has been very successful in the campaigns is they fall on very eager ears. They are convincing people of something they do want to hear. Its all everybody elses fault. And what happened in ukraine was a horrible chaotic travesty of democracy and you certainly dont want it to happen at home. I think that is a more appealing message than the alternative. You and your colleagues make an important point in this New York Times piece about continuing to be tough on russia, but you also make a point that ukraine is going to have to very publicly acknowledge that it is not looking to join nato which is a real problem. Its a real issue for for russia. So you are saying strengthen nato and make sure we have a strong force and a strong attitude toward russia. At the same time ukraine has got a temper its viewpoint . Look, joining nato is not a level you attain in a video game if you have eaten enough dots. You get five extra lives and you join the nato alliance. Thats not how it works. They have to meet certain standards and the rest of the alliance has to agree that they want it as a member. Ukraine is nowhere near that. It doesnt mean its impossible or that it cant have nato aspirations in the long run, but ukraine has to recognize that this is a long way away, and i think thats something that nato recognizes and theres nothing wrong with acknowledging it. In the mean tile they can do whatever they need to do to join nato that would be a smart move on its part. What is russia going to do in 2015 . I mean essentially the facts on the ground in ukraine and crimea and Eastern Ukraine are frozen. Ukraine continues to edge back on any dealings it has with Eastern Ukraine, at the same time russia is not recognizing thatsern ukraine will be part of russia. Is that how i stays for 2015 . Or is there some resolution to come . Well, theres still fighting in east ukraine. Right . There are still people dying in east ukraine. Its cold. People are having trouble staying warm. There are huge refugee flows. This is a hot conflict and i think that and there are continuing talks and conversations. They just arent getting anywhere as of now. I think there is still a real benefit to be had to all sides from getting the deal and part of the benefit to russia is that getting a deal and helping get its forces out of ukraine and helping stabilize the situation in Eastern Ukraine could get sanctions relief. What is your sense of the role that the falling price of oil has had . We spent most of the year talking about natural gas and its impact. Natural gas is a puny part of russias economy compared to oil. This collapse in the price of oil in the last six months has hurt russia harder than the sanctions have. I think its a combination. Its the price of oil. And the sanctions, particularly those that limit access to capital. The country needs to borrow and if it cant do that that has a real effect on the economy. And then theres just a lack of faith in the government and in the economy. And thats going to be the toughest thing for russia to recover from honestly. The price of oil can go up but right now investors have got to be looking at russia thinking, wow, i dont know that this is a country i want to put my money into. And i dont even know if sanction relief and Higher Oil Price would fix that. Thank you for much for your thoughts. The new cold war has russia in a race for riches against the west. Im going to take you to a place where russians and ukrainians are working side by side. Tell me what is on your mind on facebook or twitter. Keep it right here. Well despite sanctions, plunging oil prices and the rules dramatic decline, there has been at least one constant in russias Foreign Policy the arctic. The region holds billion dollarses of dollars of untapped resources, and mass cow has maken note. Oil and gas account for 52 of russias budget the kremlin is looking for ways to replenish its supply. Putin is eyeing old soviet outposts as a way to secure his country east future. David has this report from the frozen north. Reporter moscow is beginning to militarize the arctic deploying a series of drones to sore over the frozen tundra while upgrading its navy and air force so they can handle ice in the extreme cold. The reason . As polars caps melt russia hopes to be in a prime spot to cash in. The region is home to 13 of the worlds undiscovered oil, and a third of its natural gas. Russias resurgence has been fuelled by hydrocarbons that came from the sub arctic and if they are to stay powerful they need more hydrocarbons to come out of the arctic. Reporter eight nations lay claim to this landscape, and thats bringing new interest to old russian settlements in the high north. To find out more we headed to an old russian coal mining settlement, which is situated halfway between norway and the north pole. There are only three days to get here helicopter, snow mobile or boat. And although were heading to a settlement, all of this territory is technically norwegian. But by most accounts this is russia. A stateowned Russia Company has mined here since the 1930s. Russian subsidies still fuel the settlement coffers. Even the miners are paid in rubles with salaries as much as four times the going rate in russia. Its one of the main reasons why people come here. Reporter there about 350 coal miners who work in this coal mine alone. Were down a mine shaft in a russia mine. And the workers are broth russian and ukrainian, and they all seem to get along. This coal mine has been producing less coal over the years, but some say it is more of strategic value. With the potential of 4 billion worth of untapped resources, many here think russia is holding on to the area to keep its options open even if Falling Oil Prices and western sanctions are making new exploration tougher. The policy of russia the being here is very important for them. Reporter the number of arctic shippers have also soared in recent years. What russia needs now are arctic ports and lines of communication, its a big reason why moscow unveiled an ambitious plan to build at least 13 new stations across the arctic. Well unlike most of the u. S. The arctic is on all of russias doorstep and the country has more ice breakers than any other nation. The big question now is how much of an impact western sanctions and low oil prices will have on moscows longterm plans. Joining me is a man who says he expects low oil prices to stick around and that could force Vladimir Putin to change course. Good to see you again, steve. Good evening. I want to continue the conversation i was having with olga, while oil and gas is 52 of russians income it is really a lot more oil than gas. We have been talking about gsa and Western Union and sanction but really oil is a bigger story. It is because when putin is thinking about and when the west is thinking about, the sanctions and the economy and the crisis that russia is in now and is heading into next year they are thinking about the the arctic. Its the next generation. Its the money that russia will depend on in the next decade in the 2020s. The sanctions put a clamp on on that production on on that next economy. The other thing, which you mentioned yourself are low oil prices. Sanctions are one thing. Russia can figure it out if its given a number of years. It can figure out it can bring the chinese in. The chinese will get tired of sanctions, get some new technology, but how long are low Oil Prices Going to last . How much will it cost to drill in the arctic. What is the breakeven price that russia needs to earn to make it worthwhile . A lot of people think were not going to get to 100 a barrel oil again for a very long time. You could have a gap a gap in which the 2020s disappear for russia and it has to wait until the 2030s. Yeah, and this is important, because this is what you call tight oil. This is not like texas where you drill into the ground and a gusher comes up. Its much more expensive and scientifically involved to drill in the arctic. Russia had a deal with exxon mobil, and they had just about begun their work in the arctic when the sanctions hit and exxon had to pull out. What are the implications of not being partners with either exxon mobil or an american to get to this hardtoreach oil. First to add one item on to the detail you just gave exxon and rozneft did Work Together and struck oil. So nay proved that that there is oil there. Thats the first hard evidence. The stateoftheart drilling is exxon mobil, bp and not being able to access their technology is a great setback for a number of years. You know weve learned over the decades, remember the soviets were the first ones into space, so you cant it would be wrong to underestimate russian resolve when they have to but it would take a number of years to get there. And and, you know, we know the chinese and russians can do all sorts of things. Are they on track to get there or would it be better to reestablish relations with a country that knows how to drill in the arctic . Its the latter. They only now discovered that they have to. So this is a matter of experience. Its not just looking at the arctic and understanding that you have to drill in per ma frost with very very hot equipment, under very high pressure, and in order to remain safe if theres an environment accident up there, this is disastrous, so they will be worried about that. You you have to have experience it takes years and years to understand how to work and then you do it and then even after you do it you have to bring the price down. No one knows for sure just looping back again to the matter of cost. Uhhuh. What it will cost to drill in that kind of environment, but one estimate that was floating around around a year ago, is that you might need hundreds of dollars a barrel to make it work. Steve good conversation with you as always. Thank you for joining us and bringing your wisdom to our viewers over the course of this year. Well it has been dubbed the great firewall of china. Coming up the latest on gmails countrywide outage in china. Were back in just two minutes. Tonight on Al Jazeera America, at 8, primetime news what concerns you the most . Bringing you the latest headlines from around the world you can really feel the tension here. Then at 9, its america tonight in depth reporting from coast to coast would it be dangerous for you go about three blocks that way . I wouldnt go by myself. At at 10, consider this its the latest push for reform. Antonio mora brings you unique perspectives on the news of the day tonight starting at 8 only on Al Jazeera AmericaGoogles Gmail now appears to be completely blocked in china. There have been disruptions there since june but users could still access g mail using thirdparty applications. And now even those are blocked. For more on the story, our correspondent has this report. Reporter this woman has been trying to access her google email account but hasnt been able to do it for many days. Internet users have reported disruption since june but people were able to access their gmail by alternative internet protocols. But all of the alternatives are no longer accessible. Some businesses that use gmail as their corporate email are also facing problems. Translator i dont have the knowledge about what you just mentioned. Please check with the Internet Information Office. But what i can tell you is that china consistently welcomes and supporteds Foreign Investors in legally conducting business in china. Reporter we contacted the chinese Internet Information Office and officials refused to comment, but an editorial blamed google for not obeys laws china wants foreign firms to do business through local partners and to keep data on chinese soil, and Companies Like google refuse such terms. Google continues to say no to what it calls censorship and china continues to clamp down on what it considers a western conspiracy. More than 600 Million People are affected by the move. Many are resorting to a software that allows you to bypass restrictions. Translator the only solution is to use vpn to check your emails. Because it always has some problems logging on to email. Its not as stable as chinese email account. Reporter a strictly controlled internet is what the Chinese Government considers crucial to maintain power. And many other governments including france spain, south korea, iran russia, United States, also apply some sort of regulations or internet monitoring. They may not be as stringent as what Internet Users call the great firewall of china however. Computers are getting smarter faster more sophisticated, can the human brain keep up. This Time Next Year it may well be a robot in this spot. Hope not, but jake ward looked at the issue. Reporter those of you who drive regularly know this already. But driving is chaos. The sheer amount of data coming at you. The lane markers, and the street signs, the signals, and the rain on the wind shield all of that is an unimaginable amount of data, and before now it was assumed that only our sophisticated brains could handle that kind of data and process it for us. But in cars and in all other parts of