In a Russian supermarket, a bearded man takes a furtive look around. His brow is creased with tension.
Then, with a jerk, he reaches into the shelves, grabs several items, slips them into his rucksack and dashes for the exit.
Caught on CCTV this was yet another butter theft in Russia, driven by soaring prices linked to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Supermarket owners now store butter in anti-theft devices or keep slabs behind the cashier’s counter.
Security sources said 50 butter thefts a week had been reported since October 2024.
In a central square in the Russian city of Kazan, Vanya told the Telegraph in October that rising prices were “really painful.”.
Inflation has soared across Russia’s war-focused economy, forcing up interest rates to 21 per cent.
In a report in October, the US-based Atlantic Council think tank said that “inflation posed the single greatest threat” to Russia’s economy.
It also undermines confidence in the rouble, which has lost a third of its value since August.