Putin’s war in Ukraine ushers in identity crisis for Russia

MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin has ushered in a crisis for his country — in its economy and identity.

The Kremlin is hiding the reality of the country’s attack on Ukraine from its own people, even cracking down on news outlets that call it a “war.”

But the economic carnage and societal turmoil wrought by Putin’s invasion is becoming increasingly difficult to obscure.

Airlines cancelled once-ubiquitous flights to Europe. The central bank scrambled to deliver ruble bills as the demand for cash spiked 58-fold. Economists warned of more inflation, greater capital flight and slower growth; and the S&P credit rating agency downgraded Russia to “junk” status.

The emphasis on hiding the war’s true extent was a sign that the Kremlin fears that Russians would disapprove of a violent, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a country where many millions of Russians have relatives and friends.

Russians have been stunned at how quickly the economic impact of the war was being felt. The ruble hit its lowest level against the dollar, which traded at about 84 rubles Saturday compared with 74 a few weeks ago. That sent prices for imports surging, while sanctions on Russia’s largest banks wreaked havoc in the financial markets and new export restrictions promised to scramble supply chains.

“Those who shout that Putin is great and bravo to him are no longer shouting as loud,” said Lalya Sadykova, owner of a chain of beauty salons in St. Petersburg. “They’re in shock from what is happening, from how quickly prices are changing and how suppliers are stopping deliveries.”

The Kremlin rushed to maintain its narrative. The government’s communications regulator slowed down access to Facebook and warned 10 Russian news outlets that their websites could be blocked. The outlets’ declared offence was publishing articles “in which the operation that is being carried out is called an attack, an invasion or a declaration of war.”

A hint of the potential opposition came Saturday when Mikhail Matveyev, a Communist lawmaker who had voted to endorse Putin’s recognition of the Russian-backed separatist territories, wrote on Twitter that he had been tricked.

“I was voting for peace, and not for war,” he wrote, “and not for Kyiv to be bombed.”