If Russia Loses Kursk Oblast Even for a Time, Food Prices will Rise across Russia, ‘Krizis-Kopylka’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 13 – If the Ukrainian army succeeds in occupying Kursk Oblast, it will eliminate a major source of food Russians elsewhere in the country consume, Krizis-Kopylka says. That will not lead to empty shelves as other oblasts produce similar foodstuffs, but it will certainly send prices higher and exacerbate inflation.

            As the independent portal puts it, “No, the shelves will not be empty but the price tag for the rest will increase. All basic food prices will rise, from bread and milk to fresh and processed meat. And there will be nothing to compensate for this lack of food” in the short term because pig farms or agricultural workers can’t be moved quickly (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/102753).

            In its investigation of what Kursk Oblast means to the Russian economy, the portal also notes that workers in the region are among the most poorly paid in the country while the owners of the large farms and industries mostly live in Moscow or in Cyprus, a pattern that helps to explain local anger at Moscow and the lack of local defense against the Ukrainian military.