31% of Russians say they can’t afford basic groceries as food prices rise faster than wages

31% of Russians say they can’t afford basic groceries as food prices rise faster than wages

Thirty-one percent of Russians say they can’t afford basic groceries anymore. That number, from real-time data tracked by SberIndex, is a flashing siren. Across Russia, the everyday cost of living is crushing people as the war drags into its fourth winter. This is the direct blowback of Vlad Putin’s decision to launch a full invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022. While missiles hit energy plants and homes in border regions, inflation and sho…