Since the start of the military campaign in Ukraine a month ago, Russia has been subjected to unprecedented Western sanctions, its economy has gone into declinemedicines and other basic products are beginning to be scarce, it has approved laws against freedom of expression and blocked social networks.
It’s the “new reality” in which Russians live since February 24. A situation that did not occur even in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported the armed uprising in Donbas, although Russian President Vladimir Putin is convinced that his country will overcome the difficulties.
While Putin’s popularity hovers around 80%, a quarter of a million Russians have chosen to go into exile waiting for better times, according to independent sources.
economy down
Putin called “lightning war” the barrage of Western sanctions that have isolated his country to unsuspected limits and even forced him to suspend his stock market activities for almost a month.
Gross domestic product will contract and inflation is already over 12%. Photo EFE
And it is that the Russian banking system was excluded of the international interbank communication system SWIFT and Russian gold and currency reserves abroad were frozen.
The US and the European Union closed their airspace to Russia, which responded by closing its airspace to Western airlines.
Sanctions affect almost every sector of the Russian economyincluding oligarchs who support the Kremlin but have numerous assets in the West.
They paid for the first broken dishes, although those who will notice it most in the long run will be ordinary Russians. And it is that the gross domestic producer will contract and inflation is already over 12%.
Western brands, from Apple to Ikea, Lego or Volkswagen, did not hesitate to cascade out of the Russian market, which left not a few Russians without work.
The authorities have recognized that the economic contraction will cause an increase in unemployment and, therefore, of social tensions within Russian societyalthough this week the Russian Justice put on the band-aid before the wound by sentencing the opposition leader, Alexei Navalni, to nine years in prison.
According to the government, almost 60,000 Russians have lost their jobs due to the sanctions so far in March, to which must be added almost another 14,000 employees who are on vacation without pay.
Without social networks and with censorship
Renault discontinued production in Russia. AP Photo
That Putin is a man of the analog age is an open secret, as are the Kremlin’s plans to build a digital Great Wall like China’s.
After slowing down Twitter and fining the tech giants for their latent support for the democratic opposition, the Russian Justice went further by banning Facebook and Instagram activities this week.
The reason was the refusal of its parent company, Meta, to eliminate calls for violence against Russians, including the military.
In addition, the head of the Kremlin promulgated a law on March 4 that punishes with serious fines and up to 15 years in prison. spreading “false information” on the Russian Army and calls for sanctions against the country.
That is, all media have forbidden to use the words “war”, “invasion” or “aggression” to refer to the ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Some news agencies, channels and international newspapers suspended their services and others stopped reporting from Moscow until further notice.
Meanwhile, the authorities also closed down two of the last independent media outlets, the “Echo of Moscow” radio station and the “Dozhd” channel, and the “Novaya Gazeta” newspaper, which built its prestige in the two wars in Chechnya, stopped covering the fight.
The only source of information is public television and the Ministry of Defense, which has not reported casualties in its ranks since March 2.
Shortage of food and medicine
One of the first indirect consequences of the Russian intervention was queues at Moscow pharmacies and it is that after a few days insulin, medicines to treat chronic diseases and drugs for babies and pregnant women began to be scarce.
Although the Government prohibited the return of shipments of foreign drugs on Russian territory, the current crisis demonstrated the excessive dependence of the national pharmaceutical industry of Western components.
As Efe has verified, many Muscovites do not stop calling pharmacies daily by phone to order medicines and stock up for several months.
Although the authorities have taken the iron off the supply problems, more than 80 drugs are in short supply, according to a survey carried out by the local press among medical professionals.
The French corporation Sanofi was the latest to suspend the supply of non-vital medicines to Russia.
In addition, in supermarkets there is a shortage of basic products such as “grechka” or buckwheat -basic food in the diet of the Russians-, sugar and toilet paper, and the prices of some items have skyrocketed due to the sudden increase in demand.
Putin has ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate with regional authorities the necessary measures to reduce the current tensions in the food market.
In addition, the authorities have decided simplify procedures for importing sugar and expand the cultivation surface of those products that are scarce.
Source: EFE
PB