The adage that in wartime you can have either guns or butter, but you can’t have both never seemed more vividly illustrated than in Russia recently where the high cost of butter has thieves stealing it so often that protective covers had to be placed on it in supermarkets.
With inflation running around 10% in Russia, interest rates at 21% and mortgages in similar territory, basic staple items such as butter (up 26% this year) have become harder for ordinary Russians to buy.
Source: Financial Times
Thefts of packs of butter have highlighted the impact of skyrocketing inflation on Russia’s war economy.
President Vladimir Putin’s splurge on arms and ammunition has helped Moscow to maintain an advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine, but it is increasingly coming at the cost of soaring prices for everyday essentials.
Security footage in Ekaterinburg, the capital of Russia’s defence industry, recently captured two masked men breaking into a dairy shop. As one raided the cash register, the other made off with 20kg of butter.
