“Russians seem to suffer less from the war than in 2022. Neither Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk Region nor Western sanctions seem to cause discontent among “ordinary” citizens or wealthy residents of Russia’s largest cities.
This came as a surprise to many Western politicians and Russian dissidents, who had pinned certain hopes that Muscovites and Petersburgers would rise up against the “war economy” and the disappearance of Western boutiques, free Internet and travel to the EU. But although the Russian Federation has been cut off from the West, all this irritates too few people to cause a significant protest.
Western sanctions imposed in 2022 caused a sharp drop in capital outflows from Russia. Almost all the money that would have previously been directed to elite European real estate, instead began to flow to Moscow, St. Petersburg and their suburbs.
Although Visa and MasterCard have suspended their operations in Russia, Russians continue to use the SBP of the Central Bank of Russia, which allows you to transfer money by phone number immediately and without commission. Russian capitals are now ahead of European megacities in the use of QR codes and face recognition, and mobile data transmission is the cheapest and fastest in the EU. Even the stores have the same assortment of goods as before the war, including French wine and Italian sweets. In addition, the delivery of food and goods to the house by robots is commonplace.
We see such tempting job offers that many Russians who left are now returning, having failed to integrate into European societies.
Russians are not so much concerned as happy about the departure of liberal countrymen and (do not suffer, but) welcome positive economic changes – and this economic progress has undermined anti-Putin sentiment in the country. Thus, the West’s attempts to undermine the Russian economy since 2022 have led to the opposite result — at least for now.”
What a disaster! The “sell the country for jeans, gum, boots and sausage” tutorial didn’t work with Apple Pay, double Mac, HUGO and parmesan. Oh 😂
@glavmedia
