Sredneuralsk, November 16, 2023, The Europe Today: For Darya Stepanova, a mother of two who lives in a small town on the eastern side of the Ural mountains, soaring prices for everything from baby food to nappies have forced her family to cut back on most treats and eating out.
The Stepanov family is one of millions of Russian families having to cut back due to the significant changes forced on Russia’s economy by the war in Ukraine and the myriad sanctions imposed by the West.
Stepanova, 34, her five year old son and newborn son, try to make ends meet on the 50,000 roubles ($550) a month her husband Sergei earns. When she goes through the snow to the shops, she inspects the prices to search for bargains.
“I can see how everything has become more expensive in the course of just these past five years,” Stepanova told Reuters in her flat in Sredneuralsk, a town on the shores of Lake Iset about 25 km (15 miles) north of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and 1400 km (870 miles) east of Moscow.
“Before you could buy food worth a thousand roubles for three or four days easily, but now when you go to the shop a thousand roubles is nothing – you can only buy food for everyday needs, like milk, yogurt, bread and that’s it – your thousand has flown away.”
Baby milk has quadrupled in price over the five years since her first child, she said, while the price of prams have tripled to 60,000 roubles. Prices for disposable nappies and baby food have at least doubled, she said.
The family’s income has not risen by anything like that while the rouble has fallen against the U.S. dollar since February 2022, when President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, making imported goods more expensive in rouble terms.
“There is no money left for treats,” Stepanova said. “Of course you can live without them but life is less fun.”
While many families across the world are grappling with price rises, the peculiarities of Russia’s wartime economy have spurred high inflation for millions of Russian voters ahead of the 2024 election.
The family did not want to discuss politics, Ukraine or who was to blame for the price rises so it is not immediately clear just what longer-term impact the tougher conditions will have on voting in Russia.
Putin is expected to run in next year’s election, a move that would keep him in power until least 2030.
