In Moscow, prices have become "crazy"

At Moscow's Preobrazhensky Market, strawberries, cherries, and other seasonal fruits are eye-catching on the stalls under a beautiful summer sun. But for Roman Paltilevitch, it's difficult to buy them here because of high inflation: "The prices are crazy!" After more than three years of Russian offensives in Ukraine and retaliatory Western sanctions, the price increase, which has stabilized for several months at around 10%, remains a thorn in the side of the Kremlin, which has been unable to bring it down significantly.

"I don't buy potatoes or cherries here," says Roman Paltilevitch, an 84-year-old retiree. "This year, the prices have gone up significantly!" He says he's been shopping at this market since his childhood, during the Soviet era, but now prefers to go "to a small grocery store" elsewhere in town to do most of his shopping. "It's cheaper there," he explains.

When discussing the causes of inflation, the octogenarian carefully weighs his words to avoid legal trouble, as any criticism is severely repressed by the authorities.

Yet it is the Russian army's attack on its Ukrainian neighbor since February 2022 that has caused the explosion in food prices: Western sanctions have pushed up prices, while Moscow has simultaneously spent massively on the military-industrial complex to support the army, which has pushed up wages and, in turn, everyday products.

Beside Roman, his wife, Tatiana, reverently holds a small punnet of strawberries in her hands, like a precious little object worth 400 rubles (4.50 euros) that must be treated with great care. Given their price, which has become prohibitive in their eyes, the strawberries will only be for their grandchildren, she says.

Elsewhere in the aisles of Preobrazhensky Market, many people met by AFP spoke of the same problems filling their shopping baskets, even though the Central Bank of Russia publicly welcomed the "slowdown" in price increases on Friday.

"I don't buy anything in big supermarkets anymore," explains Nikolai Kucherov, a 62-year-old independent artist who came here to buy chicken for his young granddaughter. "You have to forget about traveling. For the past three or four years, all you can think about is stocking your fridge," he admits, a touch bitterly.

Like him, many Russians remain deeply affected by the severe economic crisis of the 1990s, when the national economy, emerging from 70 years of communism and state planning, was largely shaken. Some of the population even lost their savings.

A quarter of a century later, the shock of opening the market to competition has been replaced by the assault of Russian troops in Ukraine, a decision taken by President Vladimir Putin, who nevertheless maintains that his country has become "more sovereign" since 2022.

In this context of forced restructuring of the economy, the Kremlin's leader also praises the rise in real wages, which has benefited several hundred thousand Russians, mainly those working in the defense industry. "Wages are increasing, so it's about the same," Konstantin Zelenkov, a 38-year-old engineer, told AFP.

But not everyone shares his view, like Irina Yakovleva, a 68-year-old former accountant, who says, "Everything is constantly increasing." She sums up the general feeling: "We simply have to restrain ourselves."