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As President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine enters a fourth winter, Russians are having to come to grips with its growing impact on nearly every aspect of their daily lives.
Dozens of regions in central and southern Russia are now feeling the war’s proximity as drones and sometimes missiles hit energy sites and residential buildings. Air raid sirens wail almost every night, offering a constant — and very public — reminder of how the conflict is encroaching.
Beyond the front lines, the rest of Russia, Moscow included, has started to feel the economic toll. From households cutting back on food spending to struggling steel, mining and energy companies, the country’s economic engine is showing multiple fractures, and the earlier resilience spurred by massive fiscal stimulus and record energy revenues is being tested.
The degree of suffering is incomparable to that of Ukraine, and is in any case unlikely to prompt Putin to end the war, yet it underlines the ever-higher cost being extracted for his decision to launch the all-out invasion in February 2022.
The fallout is hitting just as the US applies pressure to curb oil and gas revenue flowing to Moscow as part of the Trump administration’s flurry of activity aimed at reaching a ceasefire. Momentum for a deal is growing, with talks shifting to Moscow and US-Russian negotiations known to have been working behind the scenes on a package that would give Kremlin the sanctions relief it wants.
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