At the end of the game, it was a lack of revenue from historically low commodities prices that ended up really breaking up the Soviet Union. In theory it could be done this way, but there is a lot of game left for Putin to play in sacrificing his own people's well being to get there. Heck NK has been doing exactly that since they quit actively shooting at SK, and they are still holding on. Iran has basically been under sanctions since 1979, and they are still holding on.