Far North Hit Harder by Shortages and Inflation than Other Russian Regions

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 6– Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the West’s response to it has already put on hold or even killed off his ambitious plans for projecting Russian power into the Arctic (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/03/putins-war-in-ukraine-kills-off-moscows.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/03/putins-war-in-ukraine-puts-in-jeopardy.html).

            But in addition, problems that are plaguing almost all Russian regions – shortages of foods and medicines, galloping inflation, and the inability to continue production because of the lack of components from abroad – are hitting the region, sparking further outmigration and putting the region at risk of collapse.

            In a new article, The Barents Observer says that this is happening because regions in the North, with some of the “longest logistical chains” are the ones most likely to be hit by these developments and that local officials on their own lack the capacity to do much about it (thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2022/04/russias-north-locals-are-starting-feel-new-war-economy).

            One the one hand, these trends are souring the attitudes of the local population to the regional leaders they expect to help them, with many people posting on government portals complaints about the failure of Russian leadership at that level to do something, anything, to help the population.

            But on the other hand, and potentially more seriously, it is prompting people in the Russian North to question Moscow’s decisions which increasingly seem to bring them only a lower standard of living whatever imperial boost they may provide. The longer the war goes on, the more widespread and intense these feelings are likely to become.