Four weeks after the offensive began in Ukraine, The first concrete effects of Western sanctions and repression are beginning to be felt in the daily lives of Russians.
These are some examples.
Sugar
Images of people fighting over sugar in supermarkets were widely shared on social media, with many Russians rushing to get some food in recent days for fear of shortages.
In stores, sugar – whose price has skyrocketed – has begun to be rationed. A part of the population, traumatized by the hardships of the 1990s, seeks to stockpile this product, widely used to preserve some foods, and also buckwheat, which in many cases is boiled.
The authorities have tried to reassure the population, denying that these products are scarce, days after having limited exports. The Kremlin alluded to an emotional reaction from consumers.
Leaves
Another basic product that has skyrocketed in price and has even disappeared from some shelves is sheets of paper. Its price has doubled, tripled or even more in internet resales.
Some plants, such as SvetoCopy, in the northwestern region of St. Petersburg, have suspended production due to a shortage of sodium chlorate, used to whiten paper, and which is largely imported.
On Monday, the trade minister said the situation would stabilize soon.
Travels
For years, a middle class accustomed to traveling through Europe and other parts of the world had emerged. But that ended because of sanctions, with Western countries closing their airspace to airlines, who are also unable to get spare parts from abroad or insurance outside the country.
From Russia, international flights are already counted on the fingers of one hand. Domestic flights could end up being carried out largely by Russian planes, such as the Superjet, whose beginnings were marred by accidents.
Air safety, as a whole, could be affected by the sanctions. In social networks, Russians joke about their future vacations at home or in Central Asia. A joke with a bitter taste, as it reminds us of the Soviet Union and its impossible journeys.
Currency and bank cards
With the suspension of Visa and Mastercard operations for Russian accounts, Russians abroad have been left without access to their money.
Apple Pay has also stopped working in Russia. Therefore, Russians can no longer buy paid applications, games or other digital goods. The move also denies them access to services like Netflix, which suspended its services in Russia because payments could no longer be made.
In addition, strict capital controls were imposed, both for the withdrawal and purchase of foreign currency and for taking the latter out of the country.
Social media
Russia blocked Facebook in its territory, in retaliation for the decision of the American group to ban media close to power (such as the ‘RT’ chain or the ‘Sputnik’ portal) in Europe.
Access to Twitter was also heavily restricted for similar reasons. And the same thing happened with Instagram, which many Russian SMEs serve as a website. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was classified as an extremist organization.
AFP
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