‘People will just eat grass!’ Russia ‘to face massive collapse’ far WORSE than Nineties

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In response to the Kremlin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been inflicted with severe western sanctions that were labelled by Vladimir Putin as “economic warfare”. The effects of the sanctions have steadily filtered down to everyday life, with the country having reportedly seen shortages in sugar and buckwheat in some major supermarkets. However speaking to Express.co.uk via an interpreter, a Russian photographer who did not want to be identified, claimed that the country was months away from an economic collapse worse than that of the Nineties.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was hit by a long and wrenching depression.

According to Russia’s official economic statistics the first half of the Nineties saw Russian GDP decline by around 50 percent ‒ a far greater collapse than the US economy’s decline during the Great Depression.

This led to a huge drop in Russia’s output, living standards and life expectancy.

However, the photographer predicted an even darker future for his country, claiming some Russians will even be reduced to eating “grass”.

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He told Express.co.uk: “If you think about the Nineties, a lot of people say ‘Well, we survived the Nineties so how bad can it get?’

“Well people forget in the Nineties when the Soviet government collapsed the whole world responded really quickly with humanitarian aid.

“It was seen as a catastrophe and people were trying to help the Russian people; Russia wasn’t isolated.

“It was seen as a tragedy for the Russian people and people came [to their aid].

“The Americans were sending frozen food, while this money and this aid was coming through.

“Now none of that will happen. No one will help them.

“This will be way worse than the Nineties. [Russian people] will just eat grass. It’s going to be that bad.

“People are experiencing a false sense of comfort saying that they ‘survived the Nineties’.

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Nevertheless, the ruble has staged a dramatic recovery and returned to pre-war levels in the past month.

However, on Friday, Russia’s central bank cut its key interest rate from 17 percent to 14 percent, in anticipation the economy will shrink by double digits.

Meanwhile the central bank said it expects annual inflation to rise between 18 percent and 23 percent this year, before slowing to between five percent and seven percent in 2023, and returning to its four percent target in 2024.

The photographer has forecasted that Russia will face an enormous economic crisis in six months time, and the repercussions will be terrible for the Russian people.

The photographer warned: “Right now what is happening is the whole economy is coming to a standstill.

“In about half a year things will just collapse.

“It’s not happening now but in the next half year, if things continue the way they are, things will get really, really bad, really, really quickly.

“I’m interested myself as a journalist, how people will respond to this, and what their reaction will be.

“What will happen when people start getting fired and they have no money?

“Most people don’t have money. They live paycheck to paycheck.

“The problem is that people won’t fight back.

“They’re so scared and disoriented they won’t even protest.”

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