In the city of Buzuluk, Orenburg region, a poster with a blurred photo of President Vladimir Putin appeared on one of the store’s houses, accompanied by an ironic message about recent price increases: “Prices have risen in 2026 because of this man! Don’t hesitate to thank him for it!”, the text next to the image read.
Subsequently, members of the patriotic organization “Russian Community” came to the store, demanding the removal of the poster, threatening with a criminal case for “insulting the authority” (art. 319 of the Penal Code). The saleswoman responded that “there is freedom of speech and democracy in Russia” and promised to convey the complaint to the store management.
The organization’s representatives tried to find out who put up the poster, claiming it was “unacceptable”, but they failed to obtain this information. Instead, they filed an official complaint with the competent authorities. According to them, even if the photo is blurred, the president can be “clearly identified”, and the text accompanying the image would constitute a form of “public humiliation” of state power and “incitement to disrespect for state institutions”.
At the same time, Rosstat reported a sudden acceleration of inflation at the beginning of 2026: from January 1 to 12, the consumer price index increased by 1.26%, almost as much as in the whole of January 2025 (1.23%) and three times more than in November (0.42%). The current price increase is the highest since the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, comparable to March 2022, when inflation was rising by 1-2% weekly.
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