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Russia’s Supermarkets Are Full. But Can Ordinary Russians Afford What’s on the Shelves?
An American woman visits food markets in Siberia and finds plenty to buy. Russian wage figures reveal why the prices tell a different story for local workers and pensioners.
A loaf of bread catches my attention in a YouTube video filmed in Russia.
It costs almost a dollar. The American woman recording the video does not consider it expensive. Victor, the Russian man accompanying her, disagrees.
He remembers when bread cost much less.
The exchange lasts only a few seconds. Yet it raises a question that runs through the entire video. What looks inexpensive to someone comparing prices with the United States may feel expensive to a Russian shopper earning and spending rubles.
The YouTube channel, American in the Motherland, published the video under the title Can We Afford Food in Russia? | American in Russia.
The woman walks through bakeries and food markets in what appears to be Irkutsk, a Siberian city near Lake Baikal. Several Russian viewers recognise local streets and businesses, although the location is not established independently by the video’s…
