MOSCOW: Russia’s economy shrank 4.3 per cent in the third quarter this year, the government said on Monday, as a recession caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine continued to take its toll. Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Vedev told Russian news agencies that preliminary estimates put the year-on-year drop in gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter at 4.3 per cent, slowing to 3.8 per cent in September from 4.6 per cent in August. Officials in Russia are struggling to breathe life into the economy as the rouble has dropped precipitously in value and inflation and poverty have risen sharply. Overall, the economy dropped 3.8 per cent for the first nine months of the year, Vedev said.