First Signs Of Protest In Russia On The State Of The Country

A man reads a newspaper under signs with currency exchange rates in Moscow, November 28, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

Washington Post: As energy prices drop, ordinary Russians are protesting

MOSCOW — The men and women who protested in front of a Moscow bank one recent afternoon would never have imagined, just a few years ago, that they’d one day take to the streets to demand help from the Kremlin. Once prosperous enough to afford expensive Moscow apartments, they are now staggering under an economic burden fueled by geopolitical conflict and the plummeting price of oil.

The energy revenues that were the lifeblood of Russia’s economy are drying up, and now many — retirees, truck drivers and Moscow professionals — are suffering.

Russia’s foreign-policy adventures — first in Ukraine, now in Syria — have tied up state resources, leaving less money to fix problems at home. The drop in energy prices has drained government coffers and sent the ruble skidding against the dollar. Western sanctions are crimping banks. And after a tide of oil wealth during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first decade in power lifted a new cadre into the middle class, their fortunes are quickly sinking.

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WNU Editor: I concur with this analysis. Case in point .... many of my family members and friends in Russia are hurting .... but .... sighhh .... they still support Putin. As I have said more than once in the past few months .... I give it another year before this changes.