Since the invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, Russia has faced unprecedented economic sanctions imposed by the West. The EU has implemented nine sanction packages against the aggressor since the beginning of the war, with the aim of destabilising the Russian financial sector, its trading system, logistics and energy cooperation agreements. Not only the EU, but also the USA have imposed a number of economic restrictions against Russia. As long as the Western sanctions are in place, the macroeconomic indicators in the Russian Federation are expected to fall yearly and the country will slide into a long-term crisis. The poorest countries of Central Asia, critically reliant on Russian support, have found themselves in dire straits. This article analyses the impact of anti-Russian sanctions on the socio-economic situation in the Republic of Tajikistan.