Because of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine, Russians Will Now Return to Much of What They Faced 30 Years Ago but Without Hope, Shelin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 1 – As a result of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the world’s response, the standard of living of most Russians in many respects will return to what it was three decades ago but with one major exception: there won’t now be any “hopes for a better future” as there were in 1992, according to Rosbalt commentator Sergey Shelin.

            The fallout from the war in Ukraine will restore many things that “older people have already forgotten and younger ones never knew,” the Moscow writer says, bringing back a time when no one was starving but when many things Russians today view as normal won’t be available or affordable for most (rosbalt.ru/blogs/2022/03/01/1946603.html).

            Almost everything is going to be more expensive, Shelin continues, although inflation won’t run anywhere near as high as it did in the early 1990s. But Russians will be forced “tighten their belts not in the figurative but in the literal sense of the word.”  And it is “not excluded” that there will be serious shortages and Soviet-style lines.

            The quality of products in the stores will decline, albeit not in most cases to the old Soviet levels; but given that the Kremlin is likely to introduce its own counter-sanctions, it is certainly possible that that could be the case for some things. Medications in particular will be harder to get and more expensive certainly.

            Russians will be increasingly dependent on China as a supplier, especially of electronics goods. That is not all a bad thing as this will hold price increases down. But it definitely means that Russia will be more dependent on Beijing and that the quality and variety of goods in this area will decline as well.

In addition, Shelin says, travel abroad will again be more difficult, this time largely but not exclusively because of costs. And income from the sale of oil and gas is likely to decline even though prices have risen because of sanctions and also because many Western countries are pursuing a green agenda.

And all these things will be more difficult to take not only because Russians will be giving up recent gains but also because ever more of them, polls suggest and personal experience supports, have no faith that there is any prospect for improvement in the future, the Rosbalt commentator concludes.