Ukraine LIVE: '12 out of 10' Putin's war in TATTERS – Russians crumble in face of Zelensky

Russia’s economy is failing as wages plummet and almost 500,000 people are working fewer hours.

People in the country are also having to settle for poor-quality substitutes for western goods, according to Natalia Shapoval, Vice-President of the Kyiv School of Economics.

Ms Shapoval stressed Putin was doing his best to conceal the harsh reality from the Russian people wherever possible.

Her report, entitled Impact Of Sanctions On The Russian Economy, suggests real wages in the Russian Federation fell by 6.1 percent, while in April the drop was even worse -7.2 percent.

The report adds: “Russians became more impoverished only in 2015, after the annexation of Crimea and the first Western sanctions and the fall in the oil price, which triggered a collapse in the RUB and a rise in inflation.”

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source: express.co.uk