In the cold gray mornings of Russia, the streets grow quieter with every passing week. Storefronts once filled with bread, potatoes, and dried fish now stand nearly empty, their shelves stripped bare before ordinary citizens even wake.
Official broadcasts insist that “sacrifice is victory,” yet the people see a different reality.
Every night, long military convoys roll through the industrial districts under armed guard. Crates marked FOR THE PEOPLE disappear behind the walls of government compounds while families wait in endless ration lines for scraps. Children clutch empty bowls as loudspeakers praise “historic abundance.”
Workers from the northern factories report that entire harvest trains are redirected away from villages and toward elite war centers. Farmers are forced to surrender grain quotas so extreme that many are left with nothing for winter. Speaking against the seizures risks disappearance.