A video of an elderly Russian woman frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin's leadership has made its way online Saturday as she shared her experience of poverty.
As the Russia-Ukraine war nears its two-year anniversary next month, the ongoing conflict continues to take a heavy toll on the lives of millions of people, specifically their livelihoods. According to Business Insider, Russia is continuing to spend more on its war in Ukraine as the war effort drains resources from the rest of the country's economy, Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank official, said.
In addition, defense spending will account for almost one third of Russia's total 2024 budget expenditure, according to Reuters, while social spending including salaries, pensions, and benefits will make up for about one-fifth of the budget.
On Saturday, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a video of an elderly Russian woman who discussed her frustrations with Putin amid the ongoing war.
"I'd tell him to go f*** himself! Yes, with the situation we're in now, there's nothing else to do, nothing. You see?" the elderly woman said, according to translations in the video.
After being asked if she were president, how would she change the current situation, the elderly woman said," I don't know how I would change it. It's hard to talk about anything now. It's hard when everything's at zero."
She added: "I'm 82. That's how much I've been through. I've been through that war, I know how hungry I was. I'm just as hungry now. There was nothing then. We fed each other, helped each other, and gave each other food. Now there is plenty [of food in the stores] there and we are all hungry."
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian defense ministry and the Russian Foreign Ministry by email for comment.
The woman's comments come after Putin last week ordered the nationalization of an ammunition plant in Moscow after a mechanical failure caused tens of thousands of Muscovites to lose heat and water amid freezing temperatures.
Some resorted to filming video appeals as they grappled with the subzero temperatures. In one of the clips, shared by Gerashchenko on X earlier this month, some Russians said they were freezing and were left with no choice but to warm their homes with gas stoves, heaters, and "whatever else we can find." Others lit fires in the streets to keep warm.
Adding to the financial worries and poverty concerns, numerous reports emerged in November 2022 of Russian troops complaining that they and their families didn't receive payments for their efforts on the battlefield in Ukraine.
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