Meat and fish in Russia are becoming unaffordable for part of the population – intelligence report
According to intelligence estimates, Russia’s war against Ukraine is deepening the socioeconomic crisis within the Russian Federation and gradually increasing poverty among the population. One of the most noticeable consequences is the rise in prices for basic foodstuffs, particularly meat and fish, which are becoming virtually unaffordable for some citizens.
“Recent sociological studies (including surveys by Prognosis and Shopper’s) demonstrate the failure of Putin’s economic policy: 34% of Russians are forced to cut back on food, joining the 47% who were already doing so. Against the backdrop of stagnant real incomes and colossal expenditures on maintaining the occupying army, the average Russian has found themselves under pressure from the fuel crisis, accelerating price increases for fuel, housing and utilities, and a shortage of imported goods,” the SVR report states.
Intelligence noted that the sharp rise in prices in Russia has hit basic foodstuffs the hardest. Meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products, and fruits have become significantly more expensive, with inflation for certain goods reaching double-digit rates.
It also adds that Russians are overwhelmingly refraining from buying clothes (28% + 54% who were already saving), switching to the cheapest Chinese knockoffs on online marketplaces, or going years without updating their wardrobes (43%). The service and food service sectors are experiencing a severe slump: most citizens have stopped visiting cafes and restaurants (61%), and giving up their daily takeout coffee (39%) or switching to homemade “lotochki” for work (28%) has become the new norm for survival in wartime conditions.
“Russian propaganda has managed to construct a psychological framework in which people’s own poverty and the need to count every penny are perceived as a ‘personal failure’ and an inability to earn a living. The war against Ukraine, the systemic crisis, international isolation, and sanctions are in no way associated in the minds of the compliant electorate with the criminal policies of the Kremlin, which is throwing trillions of rubles into the furnace of war,” the intelligence report emphasizes.
The Foreign Intelligence Service stated that the Russian economy is showing signs of a crisis in its militarized system, and that funding for the defense sector is increasingly coming at the expense of the population’s well-being.
