RBC: chewing gum became the most expensive product in Russia in a year

https://russian-rt-com.translate.goog/russia/news/1137978-rosstat-zhevatelnaya-rezinka-cena?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

"The average cost of chewing gum in Russia increased over the past year by more than 20%. According to RBC with reference to Rosstat, this product has become a leader in terms of cost increase.

It is noted that in March of this year, the price of a package of chewing gum was at the level of 39 rubles, while in March 2022 its cost was 32 rubles.

Among the reasons for the rise in prices are the disruption of supply chains and the suspension of foreign business due to sanctions, as well as an increase in the dollar."

Russias economy is in tatters, they're on their knees
Bad breath may well yet bring down the Russian government SM.
- If this isn't enough to get overthrow Putin then I don't know what will.

AC,

The Russian missile is a deadly ICBM, but the US, France and Britain also have missiles with similar capabilities and warheads that the Russians cannot stop. All of these missiles are hypersonic. Within a couple of hours of firing the missile 90% of Russians will be dead and Russia will have ceased to exist. While talking about a nuclear war might give you a hard-on not even Putin is that stupid.

The West is not just screwing over a few thousand it is shutting down just about every avenue for parallel imports. The US dollar is still king and the ruble is hardly worth the paper it is printed on outside Russia.

Did you actually read my earlier comment SM?
I made it pretty clear I wasn't talking about strategic nuclear weapons, of the type you use to destroy every city on the continent.
- I was talking about non-strategic or tactical nuclear weapons, there is a difference you know. Russia has a lot more of these than the west does, and I think it's a part of its nuclear doctrine to use them on the battlefield against an enemy combatants if absolutely necessary, not a city full of women, kids and elderly.
Alternatively the US has a first-strike nuclear doctrine in which it reserves the right to nuke anyone at anytime should its 'national interests' be threatened.

Russia is actually benefiting from a weaker ruble, they are a nation of commodities, when they sell / export, lets say for example in US dollars, then under a weakened ruble the exchange gives them significantly more ruble.
It works as a kind of failsafe, or insurance.

Hi AC,

I don't get the impression that it is that sort of war. What I see is Russia trying to make it a war of trenches and artillery. That is a war Russia can win. For the Ukrainians it is about amassing as much superior weaponry in as short a time possible. A successful counteroffensive is as much about giving Ukrainians hope as it is about defeating the Russian army.

Ukraine has the advantages of accuracy and range with artillery. Russia has been using kamikaze drones to go after the long range stuff but has been thwarted somewhat by nets and cages. The Ukrainians are now attaching larger bombs to their drones and using them kamikaze style with more effect now that they have more of them.

Apologies for the lack of a link. The story isn't hard to find, but given what happens to critics in Russia I am a little skeptical that ex Wagner soldiers would be so candid.

And if this is the status of Russia's mechanised armour then I'd guess their offensive capability is limited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOQfkPI_4OQ

It looked like a BMP getting destroyed with an rpg or nlaw. The support BMP turned and fled, abandoning the crew of the first vehicle.

Hi Fester,
"I don't get the impression that it is that sort of war."
- There's no need for them at this point to go to such extremes, whilst Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson are fought over there's no real military threat to the the Russian motherland including Crimea, but if there was...

"What I see is Russia trying to make it a war of trenches and artillery. That is a war Russia can win."

Their strategy has been to slowly grind away and destroy the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine has victories of propaganda, it's all about the optics and holding every inch of territory at any cost.

Lots of horrible things happen in war by both sides, a lot of falsely attributed things too.
It wouldn't be beyond the Ukrainians to put on a dead Wagner soldiers uniform and them admit to atrocities for the propaganda value.
For the West and Ukrainian funding, it's all about selling the continuation of the war to western citizens.

Ukraine & the Globalist War Mongers - Col Doug Macgregor
http://www.youtube.com/live/gsfIuJgQc7o?feature=share