Sanctions hit the country with full force

Berlin Women’s Day on March 8 is a holy day for Russian women. And flowers are a must. But not many Russian women will be able to get them next Tuesday because they either have become too expensive or simply have not been delivered.

Prices for imported flowers tripled last week, according to data from Flowwow, a Russian e-commerce platform that includes 6,000 florists in the country. Some items can no longer be delivered at all due to the closed airspace over Europe and the grounding of Russian airlines.

The flower crisis is just a symbol of how severe the consequences of Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the resulting harsh sanctions are now affecting Russia. Since the end of the week, many Western companies have stopped operating there. Not long ago, there were long queues in front of stores from Ikea, H&M, Zara and others.