The coming Russian debt crisis will rival the Russian financial crisis of 1998. The critical point is that Russia and the Russians must turn to the credit markets if they can not meet their current cash flow needs. If the credit markets reject Russian borrowers because of bad credit ratings (three Cs of credit), Russia and the Russians will be out of cash. To me, this is a debt crisis that will exacerbate the coming Russian Financial crisis. If you can not raise or pay/service current debt, that is a debt crisis. Although in the West there is higher Debt to GDP ratios, that is not as relevant currently as Western nations can raise new debt and meet their financial obligations.
Simply put, a crisis is when you can not pay your bills. This is based on the economic idea of scarcity, infinite wants, and limited resources. We all must make trade, and Russia will have to make a choice. The myth is Russians have limitless resources. They do not. They have a failing one-commodity mechanist business model. The choice is to reform and rejoin the international community of democracies and respect human rights or face a debt and financial crisis of historical proportions.