Russian authorities agreed to begin food rationing as President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine continues into its sixth month.
The State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, appears to have approved food rations cards for the indigent, The Moscow Times reported.
Plastic cards will give the poor an opportunity to buy food and medicine at a discount, Yaroslav Nilov, head of the committee on labor, social policy and veterans' affairs, told Izvestia.
The cards will be available next year to 20.9 million Russians whose incomes are below the subsistence level (13.9 thousand rubles) set by the Ministry of Labor.
"[The program] will complement the program of electronic social certificates, which is already being implemented in the regions," the Times said.
The ration card program, which had been discussed by officials for six years, previously was rejected due to inconsistency with the logic of "breakthrough" and "getting up off your knees," according to the Times.
Nilov said the card program also will help retail chains, which will need to survive a new wave of falling consumer incomes.
"It will provide an influx of new customers," Nilov said of the card program.
The Times blamed sanctions imposed by the West after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine for driving inflation in Russia to a 20-year high of 17.8% in April. The outlet added that year-over-year price increases remained at 15.4% as of mid-July.
The Times said millions of poverty-stricken Russians spend nearly all of their income on food.
Government data showed that average yearly income a year ago could buy 208 pounds of beef but now only 195 pounds, the Times reported.
Russian consumers became poorer by nearly 4 gallons in terms of drinking milk, by 365 pounds in terms of sugar and by 417 pounds in terms of salt.
The average Russian income has shrunk to multi-year lows in terms of a ability to buy vegetables: cabbage has gone from 2,830 pounds to 1,247; onions from 2,399 to 1,976; and potatoes from 1,878 to 1,565.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade last month approved a food-sharing program, under which Russians in need will receive expiring food free of charge. The goods will be provided by retail chains participating in the initiative, the Times reported.
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