New York Times reporting that workers in some Russian cities are not getting paid.
MOSCOW — In the far east, the teachers went on strike. In central Russia, it was the employees of a metallurgical plant. In St. Petersburg, autoworkers laid down their tools. And at a remote construction site in Siberia, laborers painted their complaints in gigantic white letters on the roofs of their dormitories.
“Dear Putin, V.V.,” the message said. “Four months without pay.”
After months of frustration with an economy sagging under the weight of international sanctions and falling energy prices, workers across Russia are starting to protest against unpaid wages and go on strike, in the first nationwide backlash against President Vladimir V. Putin’s economic policies.
This is the New York Times, so I don't know how true it is because it has taken a consistent, anti-Russian stance since Crimea, however, take it for what it's worth.
I can tell you that I have a friend whose family lives in Siberia and they are very frustrated and angry at what Putin has been doing.
Workers not getting paid. Hospital closings. Spending cuts. Skyrocketing interest rates.
The Russian people are starting to feel the pain of Putin's stupid policies in reaction to US/EU sanctions.
I predicted this.
Instead of ramping up domestic spending and investment, curtailing oil and gas sales to Europe and decisively intervening to end the violence in Eastern Ukraine, Putin has done the opposite. He's imposed austerity, stopped making payments to workers, pleaded with Europe to allow Russia to continue its gas sales (to help his oligarch friends?) and bought gold (WTF???).
This is much more than a slap in the face to the Russian people who have supported him. It's abandonment.
Western neocons might be playing a more savvy game of chess here. They might not have to do very much; as Putin's support erodes who knows what could happen? He gets removed? A coup by some oligarch with CIA support? Just thinking out loud.
