Moscow: The United States, Britain, and the European Union have imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia for attacking Ukraine. After this, hundreds of international companies have closed their business in Russia. The effect of these economic sanctions is now being felt by the general public of Russia. The prices of essential commodities are increasing continuously. Along with this, the risk of people losing their jobs is also increasing. Prices of cooking oil, sugar, and blood pressure drugs in Russia have risen sharply since the first week of the attack on Ukraine. Along with the increase in the prices of food items, news of their hoarding is also coming to the fore. Medicines have not been kept under the restrictions, but their supply may be affected due to the shutdown of services of major shipping companies. The ruble has fallen since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, causing many retailers to raise their prices.
A Moscow resident said that even though the goods are still available in shops, they will become more expensive. The price of milk has almost doubled in the last two weeks. Some shops have put limits on the amount of sale of basic items like flour, sugar, and oil for the customers. Along with this, there has been a huge increase in the price of goods like the iPhone. Smartphone and TV prices have increased by more than 10%. Apple halted sales of all products in Russia on March 2. Apart from this, the prices of new cars have also increased. While the withdrawal of Russian banks from the international payment system SWIFT, the impact of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple, and Google Pay shutting down their services in Russia, the Russian central bank says could cause the economy to collapse by as much as 8 percent. Is.
Citizens of Russia are facing difficulties not only because of economic sanctions imposed by Western countries. The Russian government has made a new law. The new law provides that anyone spreading fake news about the attack on Ukraine will be jailed. Free and international media have been severely banned in Russia. Despite all this, people are raising their voices against the attack on Ukraine. So far, more than 13,000 people have been arrested in anti-war protests in Russia.
