Russia has fallen into recession after being hit hard by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Official data released from the nation's official statistics agency Rosstat shows that the country's GDP shrank by 4% in third quarter of 2022 compared to a year ago.
It means Vladimir Putin 's country is now technically in recession after experiencing two contractions in a row, having also recorded a 4.1% fall in the second quarter of this year.
Economic sanctions applied by Western allies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February since have plagued the nation's economy, with a number of popular goods and services no longer available to the nation's citizens.
Difficulties in importing key components and spare parts have also hampered the manufacturing sector. The new data also showed a steep 22.6% drop-off in wholesale trade activity, and a 9.1% drop in retail trade.
Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, told lawmakers the country should look "very soberly with open eyes" at its economic prospects as it enters recession.
"Yes, the situation can worsen, we understand this", she added.
Many analysts had predicted an even tighter contraction of 4.5%.
Elsewhere on Thursday, two Russian men and one Ukrainian were found guilty of murdering 298 crew and passengers, including 10 Britons, on the MH17 flight after they shot down the passenger aircraft.
One Russian has been acquitted.
The court imposed a life-long sentence on all three but said no sentence will ever be enough for the pain caused to all of the friends and family of those who died.
Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko are now jointly liable for a total of 16 million euros in compensation to the relatives of the victims.
The verdict came more than eight years after the Boeing 777 MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky on July 17, 2014, and was met with cries from relatives in the Dutch high-security court near Schiphol Airport.
