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Russia has seen a huge spike in butter theft as inflation and Western sanctions send Moscow's economy into crisis. The BBC's Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, highlighted reports in Russian media outlining how "people are stealing butter because of high prices." He added: "Some shops have decided to sell packs of butter in security boxes to reduce theft." -snip- Meanwhile, the government newspaper in Moscow warns that interest rates could go up again despite the Russian Central Bank's already-record hike to 21%. The paper warns they could rise to 23% in December.

Vladimir Putin's new 'wonder-weapon' caused little damage when he unleashed it on Ukraine, satellite pictures show, despite Russian claims that a defence plant in Dnipro was 'erased to dust'. Furious Russian pro-war military pundits are questioning if they have been misled by Putin's boastful claims over the 'unstoppable' Oreshnik.

A general in Russia has been fired after he was accused of faking reports of battleground successes in Ukraine. Colonel General Gennady Anashkin had been the commander of the Russian Army's 'Southern Group' which is fighting in eastern Ukraine. A Russian military blogging channel, Military Informant, has claimed that 'false reports about supposedly deep successful breakthroughs' started to come from Siversk close to where Anashkin's soldiers are fighting Ukraine. -snip- His alleged sacking comes after a top Russian general was allegedly killed by British Storm Shadow missiles on November 20. The strike launched by Ukraine wiped out Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk...

Russian food inflation remains rampant, with butter prices rising 30% since December last year. Sunflower oil and vegetables are among the other items seeing ongoing price rises. Russia's central bank last month hiked interest rates to 21% — their highest level in over 20 years — but the high rates have shown few signs of dampening inflation so far. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Russia has exchanged "butter for guns," as the country's leadership has deflected blame for price rises onto "unfriendly" countries. -snip- "To say we spend too much money for guns and forget about butter —...

A half-dozen U.S. ballistic missiles, fired by Ukraine, slammed into an ammunition depot some 75 miles across the Russian border early Tuesday, setting off further detonations that turned the sky red. The following morning, 10 British-provided cruise missiles pounded the vicinity of a Kremlin-run sanatorium that was apparently used as a military headquarters, smashing one after another in the town of Marino, located in Russia’s Kursk region about 20 miles from the front line there. These two strikes, the first Kyiv launched with Western-supplied missiles after receiving authorization from the U.S. and allies, show the range of military targets now...

Vladimir Putin has not been seen or heard from in the public eye since he made World War Three nuclear threats 12 days ago, sparking suspicion about his whereabouts. Rumours of Vladimir Putin's ill health have been swirling for years. The Russian President, 72, has not been seen in 12 days since he issued apocalyptic World War Three nuclear threats over the use of long-range Western missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory. It is unclear if the Kremlin dictator is unwell, on holiday or has simply chosen to remain out of sight. According to the Faridaily Telegram channel, which monitors...

Vladimir Putin has mysteriously disappeared from public view as his regime issued apocalyptic World War Three nuclear threats over the use of long-range Western missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory. It is unclear if during the past 12 days of high international tension the Kremlin dictator has been holed up in a hi-tech bunker, unwell, underwent another round of plastic surgery, took a secret holiday or simply chose to remain out of sight. Yet Putin, 72, has not been definitively seen since an appearance at the Valdai Forum in Sochi on November 7 when he congratulated a "courageous" Donald Trump...

Inflationary expectations among Russian households for the year ahead stood at 13.4% in November, unchanged from October, while inflationary pressure remained high, the central bank said on Monday. The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 21% last month, the highest level in more than 20 years, citing high inflation and elevated inflationary expectations as the main reasons for the move. -snip- The central bank board will convene for the next rate-setting meeting on Dec. 20, with the officials saying that a further tightening of monetary policy was possible.

Fierce fighting has raged in the region over the past week, claiming the lives of hundreds of Russian soldiers. Ukrainian forces wiped put a Russian assault group trying to cross a river in Kursk in a brutal attack. -snip- Putin's army sustained heavy losses after attempting to storm the river Psel on Monday. The attack ended in unmitigated disaster for the Russians, as the unit was wiped out during a ferocious artillery barrage. Images shot by a Ukrainian drone show Russian soldiers crossing the river in rubber dinghies. As they reach the shore, they have no time to dig in...

Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb within months if Donald Trump withdraws US military assistance, according to a briefing paper prepared for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. The country would quickly be able to build a basic device from plutonium with a similar technology to the “Fat Man” bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, the report states. “Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later,” the document reads. With no time to build and run the large facilities required to enrich...

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has denied reports that Donald Trump had spoken to him in recent days, adding that he had no concrete plans yet to speak to him. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has denied this call took place. 'This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information,' he said. 'There was no conversation.' 'This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is being published now, sometimes even in fairly reputable publications,' Peskov said. Asked if Putin had plans for any contacts with Trump, Peskov said: 'There are no concrete plans...

Russia is facing a "butter armageddon" as prices for the staple food product continue to rise sharply. By the end of October, prices for dairy products in Russia had risen by an astonishing 25.7% compared to December 2023. The steep hike in cost has led to a spate of thefts from shops around the country, forcing management to keep the product under lock and key. Images have circulated on social media, showing butter locked in fridges and signs telling customers to contact staff if they want to buy some. A CCTV video posted online also allegedly shows a Russian man...

Ukrainian forces foiled a massive Russian armoured assault in the Donetsk region, inflicting heavy casualties and loss of equipment. The ferocious battle took place near Vyymka in the Bakhmut district on the Siversk sector of the front and involved Ukraine's 10th Mountain Assault Brigade. The Russian assault group comprised over 120 soldiers and 22 armoured vehicles, including tanks. They were spotted by aerial reconnaissance and came under sustained and heavy artillery fire and drone attacks. Video images of the battle show Russian armoured vehicles being targeted and destroyed by kamikaze drones. As Putin's troops abandon their vehicles, a second wave...

Russia is importing butter from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkiye, in response to soaring butter prices, which have been attributed to rising demand for ice cream and cheese. The agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced that deliveries from the UAE began on October 18, marking the first shipments of butter from that country to Russia. Higher production costs, coupled with increased consumer interest in ice cream and cheese, have significantly impacted butter prices, according to dairy producers. Artyom Belov, chief of the national dairy producer association Soyuzmoloko, told a local news outlet that these product segments are major factors contributing...

President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s war economy is well balanced to supply both guns and butter, but the price of butter itself is now soaring as surging inflation distorts parts of the economy. The price of a block of butter has risen by 25.7% since December, according to the state statistics service. Reuters reporters found shopping bills showed the price of a pack of “Brest-Litovsk” high-grade butter in Moscow has risen by 34% since the start of the year to 239.96 roubles ($2.47). “The Armageddon with butter is escalating; we wouldn’t be surprised if butter repeats last year’s situation...

Amid shortages of basic groceries in Russia as a result of its war in Ukraine, instances of petty thefts of essential items have been reported online, with butter emerging as one of the targeted products. -snip- The shortages in the country stem from a combination of supply chain disruptions, Western sanctions, and declining domestic production. As reported by state-owned news outlet Moskow 24, large butter-making enterprises have begun to reduce production and suspend shipments of their products to retail chains. One production company cited 46 percent cumulative inflation for eight months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023,...

Vladimir Putin has admitted that sanctions on Russia and worker shortages have contributed to economic turbulence in the country. The Russian president made the comments days after Russia's Central Bank raised its key interest rate to a record 21 percent—higher than the emergency 20 percent level introduced in the aftermath of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine when facing Western sanctions and isolation from the global financial system. -snip- Russia's economic growth has been fueled by record levels of military spending but a lack of workers exacerbated by troop losses in Ukraine and a brain drain of those avoiding the draft,...

The school has trained 47,000 troops deployed to Ukraine. A Chechen military training school came under drone attack on Tuesday, the region’s strongman leader announced. The Russian Special Forces University, located in the town of Gudermes, was struck in the morning and set ablaze, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram.

Butter blocks enclosed in plastic boxes with "security chips" - these images are now common in Russian shops. Recently, butter imports have drastically fallen, and product prices have soared. This, in turn, has led Russians to start stealing instead of buying. For years, Russia was at the forefront of the world's largest food import markets, particularly leading in butter and cheese imports. Until 2022, butter arrived in Russia from all over the world. However, since the invasion of Ukraine, the situation has changed. Consequences of the invasion of Ukraine In 2022, Russia ranked 19th worldwide for butter imports. Over the...

A longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has predicted that the majority of Russian companies could go bankrupt due to the increasingly high interest rate. - snip- Chemezov criticized the Russian central bank's elevated key interest rate, which, following his comments, was raised by an additional two percentage points on Friday to a record 21 percent. "There is no 20 percent profitability anywhere. Maybe in the drug trade, but even the sale of weapons does not bring such a profit," he said. Chemezov said that the high key interest rate drives up borrowing costs for businesses, which hurts their...