Another Nail in the Coffin of Russian Villages – Rural Post Offices Closing Across the Country

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 1 – There has long been a debate about what closures in rural areas mark the approaching death of towns and villages. Most point to the absence of jobs and the flight of the young, but many focus on the consolidation of schools and the closing of medical facilities. There is no doubt, however, that the closing of post offices is a clear sign of approaching death.

            In the US, many rural residents fight as hard as they can not to lose their post office or at least their area codes. They don’t always win, but rural America is filled with places where the only “business” still in at least limited operation is the post office, something people look to as a sign that their town has not yet died.

            But in rural areas of the Russian Federation, especially in recent years as a result of Putin’s optimization programs to save money by consolidating health care and other public services to have money for his war in Ukraine, post offices are now closing, being given expanded areas of responsibility without new funds and workers, or operating on reduced hours.

            And the accelerated death of villages in rural Russia, one brought on by this trend, will further depress Russia’s birthrate which has been much higher in rural areas than in cities. That means that one Putin goal, this time increased fertility, is being undercut by another Putin policy, the destruction of Russia’s postal system.

            An investigation by The Replica portal concludes that in most of the country, the postal system is in a near death crisis. Many postal workers are quitting because of low wages or expanded duties without additional funding. And post offices that used to be open normal business hours now function only a few hours a week (thereplica.io/post/pochta-rossii-crisis).

            The situation east of the Urals is especially dire. In the Altai Republic, 19 of what had been 99 post offices have closed. In Krasnoyarsk Kray, only a third of what had been 800 postal stations still function. And in the Transbaikal Kray, 87 percent of the positions in the postal system are not being filled.

            Observers say that even in the troubled 1990s, the situation with the postal system was not so bad as it has become since Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine. And they add that the approaching death of postal service in rural areas will have especially serious consequences because in Russia, the postal service has performed more services than in other countries.

             Many rural Russians rely on the post for banking, the receipt of pensions, and other financial transactions. When the post office is close to where they live, this helps them to live their lives; but when the only postal office is dozens or even more kilometers away, they suffer – yet another consequence of Putin’s war.