Vladimir Putin is risking furious backlash from the people of Russia as they lament the inflation hitting Moscow’s economy.
The price of various items has surged by tens of percent in some cases, leaving Russians struggling to buy basic goods.
One Russian, Denis from the city of Kazan, raged at the prices of beer.
Pointing at the Guinness tap, which was seemingly being sold despite Western sanctions, he said: “I’ve had to switch beer. It now costs more than double.”
Denis also told the Telegraph: “Let’s not talk about the war. Prices, though, that’s a problem.”
Beer isn’t the only item that has rapidly become more expensive in Russia, with basic food items also being affected.
Potatoes are now 64 percent more expensive than they were at the start of this year, and butter prices have risen 25 percent.
In fact, supermarkets in Russia have been forced to lock away dairy products in secure fridges due to a spike in butter theft.
Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets quoted a member of staff at one supermarket as saying: “They are nicking butter big time. Sometimes 10-15 packs an hour go missing.”
Maximillian Hess, the author of Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict between Russia and the West, has warned that the inflationary pressures on the Russian economy could lead to Putin losing support.
He said: “This could at least mark a strong shift of the pendulum away from support for Putin, with no clear policy lever to push it back.”
Anders Aslund, a Swedish economist specializing in post-Soviet countries, told the Kyiv Independent that Putin now faces an “impossible conundrum.”
He said: “Russia is currently facing an impossible economic conundrum because of the rapid increase in military expenditures and the Western sanctions. Undaunted by economic reality, Putin is raising defence and security costs to officially $176 billion in 2025, 41 percent of the federal budget expenditures.
“Yet, Russia can only finance 2 percent of GDP in budget deficit a year ($40 billion) because its only reserve is the National Wealth Fund. At the end of March 2024, its liquid resources amounted to a mere $55 billion. Nobody lends money to Russia.”
The state of the Russian economy has led to criticism from influential Russian oligarchs such as Sergei Chemezov, CEO of state-owned defence company Rostec.
He raged at the Russian Central Bank’s decision to raise interest rates to a record 21 percent, warning that many companies in Russia will go bankrupt.
He said back in October: “If we continue working this way, most enterprises will essentially go bankrupt. The question today is this: either we cease all high-tech exports — airplanes, air defense systems, ships, and so on, which require production timelines of a year or more — or we need to take some measures.”