The kremlin Is Forcing russians to Take to the Streets in Protest

russia is seeing a rise in protest sentiment driven by wage-related issues. These include the amount of pay, wage delays, excessive workloads, and other violations of labor rights. The kremlin is attempting to contain the situation through administrative and repressive measures, but with each passing day, the problem is becoming increasingly systemic.

As of early summer, overdue wage arrears in russia totaled 3 billion rubles. Compared to the same period last year, the amount of arrears increased by nearly 1.3 billion rubles, or by 78.1%.

The problem is not limited to specific industries; it affects virtually the entire russian economy. For example, this year, drivers for the trucking company “avtokolonna 17” in tyva went on strike over unpaid wages. Later, for the same reasons, employees of “severputstroy” – a contractor for “vorkutaugol” – even halted the movement of trains carrying finished products.

In the second half of July this year, one of russia’s leading meat-processing enterprises, “vladimirsky standart”,  ceased operations. Over the past month, about 200 employees were laid off there, and nearly 4,000 were left without pay.

The situation in the healthcare sector has become absolutely critical. Despite the authorities’ official statements regarding a shortage of 23,000 doctors and 63,000 mid-level medical staff, these figures do not reflect the true scale of the problem. Nearly 40% of healthcare workers are forced to work overtime, while 39% of nurses and 38% of doctors work at two or three medical facilities simultaneously to compensate for the staff shortage.