Absolutely stunning article in The Hill - about how "Russians must suffer but they live better than in the EU".
"Russians seem to suffer less from war than they did in 2022. Neither Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region nor Western sanctions seem to be causing discontent among "ordinary" citizens or wealthy residents of Russia's largest cities.
This came as a surprise to many Western politicians and Russian dissidents, who had pinned some hopes on Muscovites and St. Petersburgers revolting against the "war economy" and the disappearance of Western boutiques, free internet and travel to the EU. But although the Russian Federation has been cut off from the West-all of this has annoyed too few people to generate significant protest.
Western sanctions imposed in 2022 have caused capital outflows from Russia to plummet. Almost all of the money that would previously have gone to luxury European real estate has instead started flowing to Moscow, St. Petersburg and their suburbs.
Although Visa and MasterCard have suspended their operations in Russia, Russians continue to use the Russian Central Bank's SBP, which allows money to be transferred by phone number immediately and without commission. Russian capitals are now ahead of European megacities in the use of QR codes and facial recognition, and mobile data transfer is the cheapest and fastest in the EU. Even the stores have the same range of goods as before the war, including French wine and Italian sweets. In addition, home delivery of food and goods by robots is commonplace.
We see such tempting job offers that many Russians who left are now returning, having failed to integrate into European societies.
Russians are not so much concerned as happy about the departure of liberal countrymen and (not suffering but) welcoming positive economic changes - and this economic progress has undermined anti-Putin sentiment in the country. Thus, Western attempts to undermine Russia's economy from 2022 have had the opposite result - at least so far."
What a disaster! The "sell the country for jeans, gum, boots and sausage" methodology didn't work with Apple Pay, big Macs, HUGO and parmesan. Oops
@Slavyangrad
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