Putin showed an obscene gesture while telling Russians about the growth of their salaries. Photos, video

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made an obscene gesture with his middle finger during his "Direct Line" TV show as he apologized to Russians for his claims about their rising wages. Putin acknowledged that not all Russians are seeing their salaries increase after people complained to him about the country's unrestrained price growth.

The Kremlin leader's statement, accompanied by an obscene gesture, was made on December 19 during a large press conference, which this year was again combined with the "Direct Line." Putin was discussing rising food prices with the audience, after which he was forced to apologize for his own words about rising wages in Russia.

"First of all, I apologize to the audience and especially to those who are listening to us today, watching us, following our work through various media, on the Internet. When I said that price growth, inflation is about 9%, but there is also growth in wages and real disposable income, these are average figures. Of course, the country is huge. Someone will listen to me and say: "What are you talking about? What welfare improvement? I have the same income as before." And someone will say: "I have less money." This, of course, happens. But I'm talking about average figures... We cannot rely on anything other than averages," the Russian dictator said after telling Russians about the growth of their salaries.

In addition, the Kremlin's host had to admit that prices in Russia are affected by sanctions in one way or another, although there are also "shortcomings of the authorities." Also, he said, the rise in food prices is caused by a "general downturn in the global economy" and poor harvests. "Rising prices are a bad thing, but in general, I hope we can cope," the dictator summarized.

Putin also noted that the food supply in Russia "does not keep up with demand." For example, according to the dictator, milk production has doubled, but demand for it increased during this time.

By the way, in 2024, inflation in Russia was already out of control, and a two-year record of price increases was updated. According to official data from Rosstat, in just one week, from December 10 to 16, the consumer price index increased by 0.35%, and annual inflation accelerated to 9.52%.

The main contribution to inflation comes from rising food prices. Thus, the rise in food prices reached 10.9% in annual terms and was the highest since November 2022. Potato prices have almost doubled (by 88.8%) since the beginning of the year. The growth in prices for onions accelerated to 45.4%, for cabbage – to 40.3%, for beets – to 30.8%.

Butter, according to Rosstat, has risen by 34.4% since the beginning of 2024, despite the government's decision to open imports from India, Iran, Turkey, and the UAE. The growth in milk prices accelerated to 19.1%, and sour cream prices to 18.5%. Lamb is 22.6% more expensive than at the beginning of the year; beef – by 12.4%, bread – by 14.3%, carrots – by 14.1%, and apples – by 18.4%.

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