YouTube and PBS Newshour show that Russian Vladimir Putin is solidifying public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with lots of propaganda and a 15-year prison sentence for anyone who contradicts the official story.
Although Russian casualties have been in the thousands, it’s unlikely that most Russians know about this since their news coverage of the “special military operation” downplays the numbers.
The international financial sanctions on Russia are causing economic paid, but Putin is preventing public backlash by buying public support.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-turns-on-spending-taps-t…
**Russia Turns on Spending Taps to Blunt Economic Impact of War and Sanctions**
**The Kremlin’s deep pockets are funding pension increases and bailouts of businesses hard hit by sanctions**
**By Alexander Osipovich, The Wall Street Journal, May. 2, 2022**
**Russia is assembling an economic relief package equivalent to tens of billions of dollars to soften the blow of Western sanctions and shield its population from the financial fallout of President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine....**
**Since the Feb. 24 invasion, Mr. Putin has signed several rounds of anticrisis legislation and ordered an emergency increase in payments to pensioners, state employees and the needy to compensate for surging inflation. He has also backed state-subsidized loans to companies battered by sanctions. Such a move could provide a lifeline to factories that have halted production because of a lack of imported components, such as computer chips....**
**First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has said that the authorities could provide up to 8 trillion rubles – or $112 billion – of credit to support the economy, including subsidized mortgages and loans to businesses. Speaking to lawmakers on April 13, Mr. Belousov described that level as an upper bound that the government couldn’t exceed without stoking inflation.**
**The Kremlin hopes such efforts will help blunt the edges of a sharp slowdown. The World Bank has forecast that Russia’s economic output will shrink by 11.2% this year, its worst contraction since the 1990s....** [end quote]
Putin knows Russian history very well. He knows that poverty of the masses was the root cause of the Russian Revolution. He knows that his own success in stabilizing the Russian economy and raising the standard of living is the root cause of his popularity. Supporting the poor and businesses during this crisis is a very smart move.
I think the stimulus will cause inflation, regardless of what the ministers say. Imports are sanctioned so supply is severely constrained, even as the stimulus will increase demand.
Russia has plenty of money to spend from oil and gas revenues, since prices are rising. They also have a substantial rainy day fund.
Europe is in the process of designing a plan to boycott Russian energy sources. Until then, Putin will use his income to buy public support.
Wendy