Food prices in Russia have skyrocketed over the past few months as the country’s economy faces a major crisis, with President Vladimir Putin staring down the barrel of more crippling sanctions.
From potatoes to cabbage, food price inflation surged in Russia last year, after Western nations slapped down harsh economic penalties on Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Potatoes saw the highest spike, rising by nearly 92% from December 2023 to December 2024, according to data from Russia’s federal state statistics service.
Meanwhile, prices for onions, cabbage, and red caviar have skyrocketed. Butter prices also surged by a staggering 36%.
Overall, vegetables and fruits crept by a staggering 22% year-on-year.
It comes as new US President Donald Trump warned this week that Putin could expect “high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries” if he refuses to end the “ridiculous” war in Ukraine.
The move could leave Russia in financial ruin amid an already battered economy.
Last year, the country’s deficit was in excess of three trillion rubles (£25billion) for the third successive year, the finance ministry confirmed.
Despite revenues increasing by 26% to 36.7trillion rubles (£297billion), this was not enough to offset the staggering spending costs, which soared 24% to 40.2trillion rubles (£326billion).
This put the total federal budget deficit at 3.5trillion rubles (£29billion), or 1.7% of Russia’s GDP.
This has left ordinary Russians feeling the pinch.
A clip uploaded to X by a Russian blogger – and shared by among others former Ukrainian Interior Ministerial adviser Anton Geraschenko – demonstrated this earlier this month.
In it, the narrator says: “Oh my God! Shaving foam costs 570 rubles [£4.39] already. What a horror. A couple of months ago, I bought it for only 250 rubles [£1.77].”
He then asks one woman: “Do you believe the prices will go down next year?”
She replies: “No. Have they ever gone down? Next year will be the year of default.”
