What does the war mean for people in Russia?
Russia's war against Ukraine and the West's subsequent sanctions against Russian companies, goods and individuals, along with mobilisation and ever-widening restrictions on the media and NGOs, are taking their toll on the Russian economy. And the people are feeling the pinch, commentators write.
A wave of emigration like that in 1918
In a Facebook post, economics professor Konstantin Sonin describes the exodus of an estimated one million people from Russia:
“The last time there was a crisis of this magnitude was probably in 1918 (for which there are no reliable statistics). Even in the early 1990s there was no such drastic decline in living standards. Of course, people have become refugees not only because of the loss of work and income but also because of their fear of mobilisation, because they do not want to participate in a criminal war or expose their children to war propaganda and the like. The standard of living does not depend only or primarily on jobs and income.”
Devastating consequences at all levels
For Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, the country is in a shambles:
“Here is a partial list of how Russia's leaders have harmed their own people this year: Russian education has been destroyed, leading academics and scientists have left the country, international academic exchange has been stopped. ... Demographics have been dealt a second blow [after Covid]: tens of thousands of young men are fleeing the country or dying on the front lines. ... Hundreds of foreign companies whose products and services improved the lives of Russians have left. Russia's media has finally been stifled (since you are reading this text via VPN, this fact should be obvious).”
No other topic
Although Putin has still not mentioned the word war, the message is clear, La Stampa explains:
“His New Year's speech was filmed not in the Kremlin, as in previous years, but at the command post of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, and for the first time the president was not alone but surrounded by silent soldiers with grave expressions on their faces. ... There were no concessions to party aesthetics, no digressions into general topics, and no wishes for peace. ... All previous attempts by the Kremlin to pretend that normality had not been affected in the least by 'difficult and important decisions' were dropped. The president did not utter the word he himself has forbidden, but he repeated 'we are fighting' several times - and he's proud of it.”