‘My heart is breaking’: Russians fear economic nightmare about to unfold
IN bright sunshine, a long queue of shoppers snaked outside an IKEA store near Moscow this week. Similar scenes were repeated across Russia as families rushed to spend their fast-depreciating roubles at the Swedish retailer which is exiting the crisis-hit country. Russians are bracing for an uncertain future of spiralling inflation, economic hardship and an even sharper squeeze on imported goods. The rouble has lost a third of its value this week after unprecedented Western sanctions were imposed to punish Russia for invading Ukraine. The moves froze much of the central bank's $640 billion in reserves and barred several banks…
