Text taken from the Telegram channel of glavmedia
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] An absolutely amazing article in The Hill - about how "Russians should suffer, but live better than in the EU."
"Russians seem to be suffering less from the war than 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 rebelling against the "war economy" and the loss of Western boutiques, free internet and travel to the EU. But even though Russia has been cut off from the West, too few people are irritated by this to cause significant protest.
Western sanctions imposed in 2022 have caused a sharp drop in capital outflow from Russia. Almost all the money that would have previously been directed to luxury European real estate has instead begun to flow into 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 them to transfer money 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 is the cheapest and fastest in the EU. Even in stores, the range of goods is the same 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 worried as happy about the departure of their liberal compatriots 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 the Russian economy since 2022 have led to the opposite result - at least for now."
You suffer badly and incorrectly.