"The Russian people have got did of communism and Putin stopped the rape of Russia by capitalist oligarchs so now the people in Russia are much better off; in contast the oligarchs in the Ukraine are still in control and the people there have the lowest standard of living in Europe."
The cost of living in Russia is much higher than Ukraine so that the lower average income in Ukraine makes the standard of living virtually even. The big difference is in the GDP per capita which is 2.7x higher in Russia, due to the energy exports but it's clearly not being passed on to the ordinary people. That's been gobbled up by the military expansion and the lifestyle of the ruling elite.
Looking at the prices being paid in Ukraine compared with Australia it looks like paradise or did before Russia decided to invade it.
The only shocker that I could find was 17% mortgage rate but at least that is realistic considering the true current level of inflation in many countries.
