War in Ukraine: Sugar shortage, Netflix cut… Russians resent Western sanctions – 20 Minutes

In Russia, the first concrete effects of Western sanctions are being felt in the daily lives of the population. Four weeks after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, scenes of struggle for sugar in supermarkets have thus made the rounds of social networks. Part of the population seeks to stock up on this product, the price of which has exploded, as it is commonly used to preserve certain foods, such as buckwheat seeds, often cooked in porridge, the famous “gretchka” popular in times of crisis. Another basic product whose price has exploded and which has disappeared from certain shelves: office paper. In the local media, images of empty shelves are multiplying, and the prices reported for this essential have doubled, tripled, even much more during resales on the Internet. Some productions have been suspended due to a shortage of sodium chlorate, a product used to bleach paper and imported for the most part. No more travel and NetflixFor the middle class used to traveling in Europe, holidays in these destinations are unimaginable, due to the closure of Western airspace to Russian aircraft, but also from insurers or manufacturers who have suspended the delivery of spare parts. From Russia, international flights can now be counted on the fingers of one hand. With the suspension of Visa and Mastercard operations for Russian accounts, Russians on vacation abroad, but also those who fled repressions at home , found themselves cut off from their money. ApplePay has also stopped working in Russia. As an immediate consequence, Russians can no longer buy paid apps, games or other digital goods. This measure also prevents access to services such as Netflix, which has suspended its activities in Russia, payments no longer going through.Iron curtain on social networksRussia has blocked Facebook on its territory, in retaliation for the decision of the Californian group to ban media close to the government (including the RT channel and the Sputnik site) in Europe. Access to Twitter is very heavily restricted in Russia for similar reasons. The same goes for Instagram, a social network adored by Russians, keen on selfies and photo sessions of all kinds, but also a vital platform for SMEs, which often used it as their only web page. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has been classified as an extremist organization.